Focus on this artwork and analyze the Background.
During the 1940s and 1950s Dalí's interest in traditional surrealism diminished and he became fascinated with nuclear science, feeling that "thenceforth, the atom was [his] favorite food for thought". The atomic bombing at the end of World War II left a lasting impression; his 1951 essay "Mystical Manifesto" introduced an art theory he called "nuclear mysticism" that combined his interests in Catholicism, mathematics, science, and Catalan culture in an effort to reestablish classical values and techniques, which he extensively utilized in Corpus Hypercubus.That same year, to promote nuclear mysticism and explain the "return to spiritual classicism movement" in modern art, he traveled throughout the United States giving lectures. Before painting Corpus Hypercubus, Dalí announced his intention to portray an exploding Christ using both classical painting techniques along with the motif of the cube, and he declared that "this painting will be the great metaphysical work of [his] summer". Juan de Herrera's Treatise on Cubic Forms was particularly influential to Dalí.
atomic bombing Juan de Herrera surrealism nuclear science metaphysical Catholicism Catalan