DREAM CAUSED BY THE FLIGHT OF A BEE AROUND A POMEGRANATE A SECOND BEFORE AWAKENING // 1944 // OIL ON WOOD // 51 X 40.5 CM // THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA MUSEUM, MADRID
THE SUBJECT OF THE SCENE, A SLEEPING WOMAN, IS HIS WIFE GALA, APPARENTLY ATTACKED BY A GUN AND TWO TIGERS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF A FISH, WHO IS BURSTING OUT OF A POMEGRANATE. ABOVE THEM, HE PAINTED HIS FAMOUS ELEPHANTS FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE BAYONET, SYMBOL OF THE STINGING BEE, REPRESENTS THE WOMAN'S ABRUPT AWAKENING FROM HER PEACEFUL DREAM. AGAIN, IT IS AN INFLUENCE OF FREUD'S THEORIES ON DALI'S ART. THE SMALLER POMEGRANATE FLOATING BETWEEN TWO DROPS OF WATER MAY SYMBOLIZE VENUS, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF ITS HEART-SHAPED SHADOW.