Dalí’s Christ is exhibited in Rome along with the relic of Saint John of the Cross

For the first time in history, Dalí’s “The Christ” is on display in Rome, one of the Spanish artist’s most famous works, along with the drawing that inspired him, a relic of Saint John of the Cross.

The initiative “The Jubilee is culture” carries out its third edition in the Eternal City under the title “I Cieli Aperti” (The Open Heavens), this time in the San Marcello al Corso church.

Until June 23, in this church in the center of Rome you can visit the world-famous “Christ of Saint John of the Cross” or “Christ of Port Illigat”, created by Salvador Dalí in 1951 and which is normally exhibited in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow (Scotland).

Everyone who visits this temple in Rome will witness a historical fact: next to the famous work of art, there is the object that once inspired Salvador Dalí, a drawing created in the mid-16th century by Saint John of the Cross.

The Spanish Renaissance saint made this drawing after receiving a mystical revelation and it is now preserved as a relic in the Monastery of Ávila (Spain).

This cultural initiative, in preparation for Jubilee 2025, was inaugurated in September with the exhibition of three important works by the artist El Greco in the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone (Saint Agnes in agony).

Subsequently, the exhibition “100 Nativity Scenes in the Vatican” took place between December 2023 and January 2024, which registered an influx of more than 280,000 visitors.