Salvador Dali, Bernardone, graphic art, 34.5x29 cm

This work is a graphic reproduction of a 1945 watercolour illustration by the surrealist master for the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. The original illustrated edition is the result of a collaboration between Fundaciòn Gala - Salvador Dalì, the Istituto Geografico De Agostini and the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. The volumes are in a limited edition of 999 numbered copies.

The scene depicted shows Bernardone in the foreground, a mint worker with whom Benvenuto Cellini has a brief meet. The man, with a distraught face, is holding two doves from which a trickle of blood is flowing, gradually turning into the tears of a face in the lower part of the work. In the background, a statue of the famous sculptor Cellini and a landscape typical of Dali's art make the illustration purely surreal.

The work has the printing of signature and date in the lower left-hand corner.