It's one of Glasgow's best loved attractions, drawing art fans from around the world to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museums to see the city's own Dali masterpiece.
But even the biggest fans of Christ of St John of the Cross may not know how controversial its purchase was for the citizens of Glasgow - nor the fact that it has been attacked by vandals on two separate occasions.
Painted in 1951 and purchased by the City of Glasgow in January of 1952, it is considered the jewel in the Kelvingrove crown and continues to be one of the real draws for the million plus people who visit the museum each year.
Costing the city £8200 (after Dali had initially asked for £12,000), the sale was conducted only seven years after the end of the Second World War.
Many people protested it - thinking it old fashioned and concerned that the money would be better spent on the city’s educational institutions.
Even Glasgow School Of Art students petitioned against the purchase, arguing that the money should be better spent encouraging local artists and providing them with exhibition space.
However, the reality is that the painting didn’t cost the city a penny - it was bought using a fund set up from the profits of the Kelvingrove International Exhibition of 1901, which was used to by works of art for Glasgow’s museums.
Still, that failed to deter the vandals.
The first attack happened at midday on Saturday, April 22 of 1961, when a mentally ill visitor attacked it with a large stone.
The incident occurred when the man broke through the barrier around the painting and used a piece of rough sandstone to slash horizontally and vertically at the surface of it. The culprit then grabbed the canvas and pulled it down with his hands, causing a tear of around eight feet.
Newspaper reports from the time indicate - under the headline ‘Dali Painting: Bearded Man is held for inquiry” - that a 22-year-old man was remanded in custody on suspicion of damaging the painting.
Thankfully, the fantastic work of the restoration team (using wax resin to repair the tear) meant that the painting was restored and placed back on display at Kelvingrove months later.
Apparently, someone also shot at the protective perspex cover of the painting with an airgun in the early 80s - although information concerning the incident is thin on the ground.
Today the painting is said to be worth in the region of £60 million, one that has paid for itself many times over given the fact that Glasgow City Council owns the copyright for the image.
It is the council, rather than the Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí (who own the reproduction rights for the majority of Dali’s work) which profits from sales of the reproductions of the paintings - a figure that is estimated to be in the region of £2,000 a year.
We'd say that was a treasure worth guarding - and it's safe to say Glaswegians today feel the same.
Article originally published in 2018.
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