Martin Lawrence Galleries

About the Work

The Temptation is a hand-signed engraving in the Le Paradis Perdu series. The image size is 10 x 8 - inches.

Regarded as one of the most important works in literature, John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Paradis Perdu) was illustrated in ten color etchings by master Salvador Dalí in 1974. The simplicity of line and careful draftsmanship exhibit the very turmoil of man’s battle with the temptation of Satan. This series is noted as having some of Dalí’s sharpest lines.

This surrealistic image displays the story of Temptation in Milton's text. Here, we can see a nude male figure floating in the air with a crowned serpent wrapped around him. The snake has an evil aura about it, with a long, scaly body and unnerving tongue sticking out of its mouth. Below, the nude figure of a woman stands. The female character appears to be extending her arm upward, as toward the male figure. Her body seems to be merging with the arm of the male figure. The merging looks like the roots of a plant, twisting and turning as they get longer.  The background of the image contains mountains and an open field, similar to that of images from other religious series of Dali's, like the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Salvador Dali was one of the greatest Surrealist artists, who used bizarre dream imagery to create unforgettable and unmistakable landscapes of his inner world. In 1934, the Surrealists censured Dalí.