The Burning Giraffe
History and description
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The opened drawers in this expressive, propped up female figure thus refer to the inner subconscious within man. In Dalí's own words his paintings form "a kind of allegory which serves to illustrate a certain insight, to follow the numerous narcissistic smells which ascend from each of our drawers."{{cite magazine|author=Zuzanna Stanska|magazine=Daily Art Magazine|url=https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/salvador-dali-the-burning-giraffe/|title=Salvador Dali, The Burning Giraffe|date=April 7, 2018|accessdate=July 25, 2019}} |
The opened drawers in this expressive, propped up female figure thus refer to the inner subconscious within man. In Dalí's own words his paintings form "a kind of allegory which serves to illustrate a certain insight, to follow the numerous narcissistic smells which ascend from each of our drawers."{{cite magazine|author=Zuzanna Stanska|magazine=Daily Art Magazine|url=https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/salvador-dali-the-burning-giraffe/|title=Salvador Dali, The Burning Giraffe|date=April 7, 2018|accessdate=July 25, 2019}} |
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The image is set in a twilight atmosphere with deep blue sky. There are two female figures in the foreground, one with drawers opening from her side like a chest. They both have undefined phallic shapes (perhaps melted clocks, as a recurring image from Dalí's previous works) protruding from their backs which are supported by crutch-like objects. The hands, forearms, and face of the nearest figure are stripped down to the muscular tissue beneath the skin. One figure is holding a strip of meat. Both human figures that double as a [[chest of drawers]] as well as the crutch-like shapes are common archetypes in Dalí's work. |
The image is set in a twilight atmosphere with deep blue sky. There are two female figures in the foreground, one with drawers opening from her side like a chest. They both have undefined phallic shapes (perhaps melted clocks, as a recurring image from Dalí's previous works) protruding from their backs which are supported by crutch-like objects. The hands, forearms, and face of the nearest figure are stripped down to the muscular tissue beneath the skin. One figure is holding a strip of meat. Both human figures that double as a [[chest of drawers]] as well as the crutch{{Cite web |last=Redazione |date=2026-04-21 |title=Le sintesi di Paolo Battaglia La Terra Borgese: Un Salvador Dalí surrealista ne La giraffa in fiamme - Il Giornale del Lazio |url=https://www.ilgiornaledellazio.it/le-sintesi-di-paolo-battaglia-la-terra-borgese-un-salvador-dali-surrealista-ne-la-giraffa-in-fiamme/ |access-date=2026-04-21 |language=it-IT}}-like shapes are common archetypes in Dalí's work. |
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In the distance is a giraffe with its back on fire. Dalí first used the burning giraffe image in his 1930 film ''[[L'Âge d'Or]]'' (''The Golden Age'').Williams, Edgar (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xi4jcqyLk6kC&pg=PA122 Giraffe]''. Reaktion Books. p. 122. {{ISBN|1861898894}}. It appears again in 1937 in the painting ''The Invention of Monsters''. Dalí described this image as "the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster". He believed it to be a premonition of war. |
In the distance is a giraffe with its back on fire. Dalí first used the burning giraffe image in his 1930 film ''[[L'Âge d'Or]]'' (''The Golden Age'').Williams, Edgar (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xi4jcqyLk6kC&pg=PA122 Giraffe]''. Reaktion Books. p. 122. {{ISBN|1861898894}}. It appears again in 1937 in the painting ''The Invention of Monsters''. Dalí described this image as "the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster". He believed it to be a premonition of war. |
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