Salvador Dali's Vision Of Hell

"The Vision of Hell (1962) is a highly sophisticated painting that juxtaposes Salvador Dali's earlier style, Surrealism, (for which he was most famous) with a more classical style of religious mysticism which he developed later in life.
Most critics believe that Dali's greatest works were those done during his Surrealistic period, (before the 1940's). It was then that Dali, greatly influenced by Freud's Interpretation of Dreams tried to enter the subconscious world while he was painting, in order to fathom subconscious imagery. To this end he tried various methods. For example, he attempted to simulate insanity while painting, and he tried setting up his canvas at the base of his bed to paint before sleeping and upon rising.
During this
Eyes have always been a symbol for Dali, particularly in his own polymorphic self-portraits. His paintings The First Days of Spring, Illuminated Pleasure, The Enigma of Desire and The Persistence of Memory all show a head, a face and a prominent eye. Those eyes, however, are all closed. The long extended eye in Vision of Hell is open, as if to say, the victim's eyes have been opened at death. This eye is a double image, typical of Dali. From one side it seems to be a human eye, bent out of shape, from the other it is the eye of a strange creature (Bosch like) with its mouth wide open ready to take a bite.
Hieronymous Bosch Influenced Dali's Vision of Hell
Dali, as well as other surrealist painters, were greatly influenced by the Dutch painter, Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516). Vision of Hell actually copies a part of Hieronymous Bosch's Hell, portrayed in the right hand panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights (triptych). The burning buildings shown in the top left if Dali's painting closely resemble Bosch's burning building in hell, and, interestingly, Dali also picks up from Bosch's inferno the image of the tattered flag, as well as a rectangular structure from which emanate four rays of light.