Ecce quasi filius hominis

Salvador Dali, Ecce quasi filius hominis in nubibus us caeli (Ezekiel 1:4), 1964–1967.

Salvador Dalí (1904–89) was a Spanish painter, graphic artist, filmmaker, and writer. Dalí was an important figure in the surrealist cultural movement that sought to expose the unconscious mind, both rational and imaginary. This work from Dalí’s Biblia Sacra, a five-volume illustrated Bible, depicts a vision of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 1:4-5). Six years in the making, the book contains 105 lithographs on heavy rag paper. Dalí’s friend Giuseppe Albaretto commissioned the book in the hope that Dalí would return to the Catholic Church. Translated from the Latin, the title of this work reads “Behold, one like the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven.” Dalí interprets Ezekiel’s vision as a prophecy about Jesus of Nazareth, who often called himself the “Son of Man.”