SNAIL AND THE ANGEL

The snail occupies an important place in the Dalinian universe, as it is intimately
connected with Sigmund Freud, whom Dalí came to regard as his spiritual father.
Dalí longed to meet Freud and once sketched his head with the likeness of a snail, in
the form of a spiral symbolizing “a morphological secret”. When he finally met his
idol, he was enchanted by a large snail sitting near Freud’s house. Dalí was obsessed
with snails, they were a fetish of his and a source of inspiration for his artistic oeuvre.
Apart from being one of his favorite foods, he was fascinated by the natural geometry
of their shells and the idea of duality: hard exterior and soft interior, just like the egg
and the lobster.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Date: conceived in 1977, first cast in 1984
Material: bronze
Technique: lost wax process
Edition size : 7 plus 3 EA and 2 HC (plus 2 authorized foundry proofs)
Height : 151 cm
Maquette: original gouache, Snail and the Angel, 1977
Direct intervention (created by Dalí): the idea, image, and original maquette
Indirect intervention (created by artisans): lost wax process and patina