Salvador Dalì, Animam et Corpus Trado Pro Patriis Legibus, 50x39 cm, Lithograph from The Holy Bible, 1967

A colour lithograph taken from the Holy Bible Collection from 1967 by Dalí who produced this work during the height of his nuclear mystical phase. The print depicts chapter VII from the Second Book of the Maccabees. This historical account is about a Jewish family, the Maccabees. The parable narrates the of story a mother and her seven sons who were barbarically and brutally murdered by the Jewish king because they were dedicated to follow the rules of God against the will of the king. The seventh brother before being killed, professed in verse 37 that “Like my brothers, I offer up my body and my life for our ancestral laws, imploring God to show mercy soon to our nation, and by afflictions and blows to make you confess that he alone is God”. In these verses, the belief of sacrifice is explained which foreshadows the notion of Eucharist. In the foreground, a shadow supports an unconscious body, the Eucharist body. The lithograph is labelled number 40 and plate signed by the artist on the bottom right corner.