Salvador Dali-Nobility of Time

Date: conceived in 1977, first cast in 1984
Material: Bronze
Technique: Lost wax process
Edition Size: 350 + 35 EA
Height: 60 cm / 23.62 in
Edition: Patina Brown

The classic Dalinian symbol of time takes centre stage in this sculpture. Dalí's soft watch is draped against a tree whose roots entwine a stone — the watch stretched and malleable, its form yielding to the shape of the trunk. New roots sprout from below as leaves grow from the branches, symbolizing the renewal of life even as time dissolves.

A crown adorns the watch. In horology, the crown is the mechanical device that winds and sets a timepiece — without it, a watch cannot keep time. Dalí plays with this notion: on a Dalinian watch, time is timeless, irrelevant, and cannot be set. His watches have no motion and lose all meaning; the essence of time melts away. Here the crown becomes a royal one, symbolizing the nobility of time — its mastery over human beings. Time reigns supreme, governing our existence in the real world, immutable and uncontrollable by man.

Flanking this meditation on time are two recurring figures from Dalí's iconography: a meditative angel, representative of the Spirit, and a female figure drawing a shawl around herself — quiet witnesses to time's sovereignty.

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