Salvador Dalí's 'The Madonna of Port Lligat' painting exhibited in Catalonia for first time in 73 years

'The Madonna of Port Lligat' by Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dalí temporarily returned to Catalonia for a new exposition in Figueres on Wednesday.

Described as one of Dalí's "masterpieces," it will be visible at the Teatre-Museu museum until February 22.

Dalí painted the Madonna in 1949, and it was last displayed in Catalonia in Barcelona in 1952.

Before painting it, the artist met with Pope Pius XII in Rome to ask for the blessing to marry Gala, as she had already been married, and also to show him a first draft of what would end up being one of his "masterpieces."

'The Madonna of Port Lligat' shows a picture of Gala holding a child with a piece of bread, all surrounded by Dalí's usual surrealistic elements, such as a rhino, architectural elements, or some olives, in reference to Dalí's Gala nickname 'oliveta.'

In the background, there is the sea of Port Lligat, where the picture was painted.

Due to the size of the painting, measuring almost 3 meters, it has required a complex trip from Japan's Fukuoka Art Museum. In fact, the museum in Figueres had to dismantle a window for the painting to enter the building.

Montse Aguer, director of the Dalí museums, said that paintings of this size are not "usually" loaned between museums, but the managers behind the Japanese museum wanted the artwork to be displayed "next to Dalí's masterpieces."

The painting talks about "Gala, of the renaissance, of spirituality, or the nuclear mysticism, especially now that it coincides with the anniversary of the nuclear bomb," Montse Aguer said.

This is "an artwork that reaches perfection," Aguer told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) on Wednesday during the picture's presentation.

A one-painting exhibition

The large size of the painting (2.75 meters in height and 2.09 meters wide) even prompted Dalí to say that it was "easier to paint than to move around."

The picture will be the core and solo element of the exhibition opening in Figueres. However, there will be some photos of the painting during its trip to Carstairs Gallery in New York under the supervision of Dalí himself.

Back then, they had to lift the painting from the street up to the sixth story of the gallery, as it could not enter through the door or the elevator.

Mark Kauffman photographed the scene, which was published in Life magazine under the title 'Madone in Mid-air.'