The Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalì is linked, as the title suggests, to the Spanish mystic, Saint John of the Cross, and to the relic, preserved in the Monasterio de La Encarnación in Ávila, of the saint’s drawing, created between 1574 and 1577 following an ecstasy in which John saw the Crucifixion. In the only drawing we have by the Spanish Carmelite saint, he represents his memory of how the Lord was shown to him, in that unusual perspective - from above - that immediately impressed Salvador Dalí. It was in the days after Christmas 1948, when, returning from Italy, the artist decided to take a trip deep into Castilla y Leon, to visit the monastery where, in addition to Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Avila had lived and experienced mystical experiences more mind-blowing than surrealism itself. Dalí was so impressed that he sought out the friendship of a Carmelite Priest, Fr Bruno de Jésus-Marie, and went to see him in Paris, to learn more, through the cleric’s studies, about the ‘Dark Night of love’ which Saint John of the Cross describes in his texts as the most direct path that a soul can follow to reach perfect union with God.
John of the Cross, born Juan de Yepes Álvarez on 24 June 1542, was the son of a very poor couple from old Castile, near Avila. It was 1563 and he was 18 years old, having recently graduated from the Jesuit College of Medina Campo, where he had studied human sciences, rhetoric and classical languages when he met Teresa of Jesus (also known as St Teresa of Avila) an encounter which changed both their lives. John met her as a priest and was immediately struck and fascinated by her plan to reform the Carmelites including the male branch of the Order. They worked together, sharing ideas and proposals, and together they opened the first house of Discalced Carmelites, in 1568 in Duruelo, in the province of Avila. It was on that occasion of the formation of the first reformed male community, that John adopted the new name, ‘of the Cross’, by which he would later become universally known. At the end of 1572, at the request of Saint Teresa, John of the Cross became the confessor and vicar of the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, where Teresa was prioress. But not everything went smoothly: adhering to the reform led to the saint being imprisoned for several months following unjust accusations. After an adventurous escape, and thanks to the help of Saint Teresa, he recovered his strength and began a long series of tasks, until his death following a long illness and great personal suffering.
Saint John took leave of his brothers while they were reciting the morning office in a convent near Jaén, in the night between 13 and 14 December 1591. His last words were: "Today I am going to sing the office in heaven". He is recognized as one of the most important lyric poets of Spanish literature, and in his vast and profound writings he describes a sure path to reach holiness, the state of perfection to which God calls all of us. The Spanish saint imagined this path as the ascent of a mountain along which man must face, with courage and patience, a profound ‘purification’ of the senses and the spirit, as though he were going through a dark night, so as to be able to love God as the center and ultimate purpose of life. One of his most famous phrases in this regard is: "In order to possess everything, try not to possess anything.”