Leda Atomica
Encyclopedia
Leda Atomica is a painting by Salvador Dalí
, made in 1949. The picture depicts Leda
, the mythological queen of Sparta
, with the swan
. Leda is a frontal portrait of Dalí's wife, Gala
, who is seated on a pedestal with a swan suspended behind and to her left. Different objects such as a book, a set square, two stepping stools and an egg float around the main figure. In the background on both sides the rocks of Cap Norfeu
, (located on the Costa Brava
in Catalonia
, between Roses and Cadaqués
intend to define the location of the image.
The painting is exhibited in the Dalí Theatre and Museum
in Figueres
.
, who raped her in the guise of a swan on her wedding night when she slept with her husband Tyndareus
. This double consummation of her marriage resulted in two eggs, each of them hatching twins. From the first egg Castor and Pollux
, and from the second Clytemnestra
and Helen. One of each of the twins was immortal, while the second was mortal.
". Leda and the swan are set in a pentagon inside which has been inserted a five-point star of which Dalí made several sketches. The five points of the star symbolize the seeds of perfection: love, order, light (truth), willpower and word (action).
The harmony of the framework was calculated by the artist following the recommendations of Romanian mathematician Matila Ghyka. Unlike his contemporaries who took the view that mathematics distracted from or interrupted artistic inspiration Dalí considered that any work of art, to be such, had to be based on composition, and calculation. Ghyka's influence is clear in the mathematical formula of the golden ratio
in the lower right of the image
which Ghyka specifically cites to calculate the side of a regular pentagon.
, Dalí took his work in a new direction based on the principle that the modern age had to be assimilated into art if art was to be truly contemporary. Dalí acknowledged the discontinuity of matter, incorporating a mysterious sense of levitation into his Leda Atomica. Just as one finds that at the atomic level particles do not physically touch, so here Dalí suspends even the water above the shore--an element that would figure into many other later works. Every object in the painting is carefully painted to be motionless in space, even though nothing in the painting is connected. Leda looks as if she is trying to touch the back of the swan’s head, but doesn’t do it.
Dalí himself described the painting in the following way:
Her right hand suggests her urge for something that is yet unclear to even herself. It might be the symbolism of the process of her impregnation, and the love and mystery of the swan. The hatched egg could represent the fruit of the union of Leda with the swan, which resulted in the birth of twins. Dali paints Gala's wedding ring, a picture of a mystic marriage. In his painting of "Leda Atomica" Dali shows his thought of an oneiric seduction of Gala.
In reference to the classical myth Dalí identified himself with the immortal Pollux
while his deceased older brother (also called Salvador) would represent Castor
, the mortal of the twins. Another equivalence could be made regarding the other twins of the myth, Dali’s sister Ana María being the mortal Clytemnestra, while Gala would represent divine Helen. Salvador Dalí himself wrote: "I started to paint Leda Atómica which exalts Gala, the metaphysical goddess and succeeded to create the ‘suspended space’".
Dali’s Catholicism enables also other interpretations of the painting. The painting can be conceived as Dali's way of interpreting the Annunciation
. The swan seems to whisper her future in her ear, possibly a reference to the legend that the conception of Jesus
was achieved by the introduction of the breath of the Holy Ghost into the Virgin Mary’s ear. Leda looks straight into the bird's eyes with an understanding expression of what is happening to her and what will happen in the future to her and to her unsure reality. Dalí's transformation of Mary is the result of love as if he created his love to Gala, like God to Mary.
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, made in 1949. The picture depicts Leda
Leda (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus , of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan...
, the mythological queen of Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
, with the swan
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
. Leda is a frontal portrait of Dalí's wife, Gala
Gala Dalí
Gala Dalí , usually known simply as Gala, was the wife of first Paul Éluard, then Salvador Dalí, and an inspiration for them and many other writers and artists.- Early years :...
, who is seated on a pedestal with a swan suspended behind and to her left. Different objects such as a book, a set square, two stepping stools and an egg float around the main figure. In the background on both sides the rocks of Cap Norfeu
Cap Norfeu
Cap Norfeu is a cape at the south-east end of the Cap de Creus peninsula located on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, between Roses and Cadaqués...
, (located on the Costa Brava
Costa Brava
The Costa Brava is a coastal region of northeastern Catalonia, Spain, in the comarques of Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà and Selva, in the province of Girona. Costa is the Catalan and Spanish word for 'coast', and Brava means 'rugged' or 'wild'...
in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, between Roses and Cadaqués
Cadaqués
Cadaqués is a town in the Alt Empordà comarca, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is on a bay in the middle of the Cap de Creus peninsula, near Cap de Creus cape, on the Costa Brava of the Mediterranean...
intend to define the location of the image.
The painting is exhibited in the Dalí Theatre and Museum
Dalí Theatre and Museum
The Dalí Theatre and Museum , is a museum of the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia.- History :The heart of the museum was the building that housed the town's theatre when Dalí was a child, and where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí's art was shown...
in Figueres
Figueres
Figueres is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors...
.
Mythological background
Leda was admired by ZeusZeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, who raped her in the guise of a swan on her wedding night when she slept with her husband Tyndareus
Tyndareus
In Greek mythology, Tyndareus or Tyndareos was a Spartan king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe and Philonoe.Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon , who seized power and exiled Tyndareus...
. This double consummation of her marriage resulted in two eggs, each of them hatching twins. From the first egg Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, and from the second Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra or Clytaemnestra , in ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess...
and Helen. One of each of the twins was immortal, while the second was mortal.
Structure of the painting
Leda Atomica is organized according to a rigid mathematical framework, following the "divine proportionGolden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
". Leda and the swan are set in a pentagon inside which has been inserted a five-point star of which Dalí made several sketches. The five points of the star symbolize the seeds of perfection: love, order, light (truth), willpower and word (action).
The harmony of the framework was calculated by the artist following the recommendations of Romanian mathematician Matila Ghyka. Unlike his contemporaries who took the view that mathematics distracted from or interrupted artistic inspiration Dalí considered that any work of art, to be such, had to be based on composition, and calculation. Ghyka's influence is clear in the mathematical formula of the golden ratio
Golden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
in the lower right of the image
which Ghyka specifically cites to calculate the side of a regular pentagon.
Symbolism of the painting
After the atomic bomb was dropped on HiroshimaHiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Dalí took his work in a new direction based on the principle that the modern age had to be assimilated into art if art was to be truly contemporary. Dalí acknowledged the discontinuity of matter, incorporating a mysterious sense of levitation into his Leda Atomica. Just as one finds that at the atomic level particles do not physically touch, so here Dalí suspends even the water above the shore--an element that would figure into many other later works. Every object in the painting is carefully painted to be motionless in space, even though nothing in the painting is connected. Leda looks as if she is trying to touch the back of the swan’s head, but doesn’t do it.
Dalí himself described the painting in the following way:
"Dali shows us the hierarchized libidinous emotion, suspended and as though hanging in midair, in accordance with the modern 'nothing touches' theory of intra-atomic physics. Leda does not touch the swan; Leda does not touch the pedestal; the pedestal does not touch the base; the base does not touch the sea; the sea does not touch the shore. . . ."
Her right hand suggests her urge for something that is yet unclear to even herself. It might be the symbolism of the process of her impregnation, and the love and mystery of the swan. The hatched egg could represent the fruit of the union of Leda with the swan, which resulted in the birth of twins. Dali paints Gala's wedding ring, a picture of a mystic marriage. In his painting of "Leda Atomica" Dali shows his thought of an oneiric seduction of Gala.
In reference to the classical myth Dalí identified himself with the immortal Pollux
Pollux
Pollux may refer to:Astronomy*Pollux , *Pollux, a crater on the Saturnian moon EpimetheusFictional characters*Pollux Black, a pureblood wizard, grandfather of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter universeGames...
while his deceased older brother (also called Salvador) would represent Castor
Castor
Castor derives from the , meaning "beaver", or "he who excels". It originally referred to Castor, one of the Dioscuri/Gemini twins of Graeco-Roman mythology.Castor or CASTOR may also refer to:-Science and technology:...
, the mortal of the twins. Another equivalence could be made regarding the other twins of the myth, Dali’s sister Ana María being the mortal Clytemnestra, while Gala would represent divine Helen. Salvador Dalí himself wrote: "I started to paint Leda Atómica which exalts Gala, the metaphysical goddess and succeeded to create the ‘suspended space’".
Dali’s Catholicism enables also other interpretations of the painting. The painting can be conceived as Dali's way of interpreting the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
. The swan seems to whisper her future in her ear, possibly a reference to the legend that the conception of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
was achieved by the introduction of the breath of the Holy Ghost into the Virgin Mary’s ear. Leda looks straight into the bird's eyes with an understanding expression of what is happening to her and what will happen in the future to her and to her unsure reality. Dalí's transformation of Mary is the result of love as if he created his love to Gala, like God to Mary.