Name/Title
Saint Narcissus of the Flies (San Narciso de las Moscas)Entry/Object ID
2026.1.9Description
Spanish artist and filmmaker Salvador Dalí—whose enduring image of melting pocket watches has made The Persistence of Memory (MoMA, 1931) an icon of the Surrealist movement—turned his attention here to Saint Narcissus, the third-century Bishop and patron saint of Girona, Spain.
This sculpture refers to a miracle performed centuries after the saint’s death. According to legend, when French forces sieged Girona in 1286, they broke open the saint’s tomb in the Church of Saint Felix. A swarm of stinging flies poured out, attacking the soldiers and causing them to flee in disarray. The grateful citizens credited St. Narcissus with saving them, and adopted the fly as a recurring architectural motif. Girona continues to hold an annual festival in the saint’s honor on October 29.
Dalí presents a bust-length sculpture of the saint, shown tilted forward, wearing a mitre and holding a crozier in his right hand while reaching outward with his left. A large fly appears (or perhaps emerges from) his chest. The figure’s eyes are shut. Are we witnessing the miracle? Is the saint awakening? Dalí’s expressive modeling leaves much to the imagination.
If accepted, this would be the first work by Dalí to enter Saint Vincent’s collections, where it would offer an intriguing complement to other twentieth-century works of Christian art. The striking appearance of the piece, combined with the artist’s fame and unusual subject matter, would make it an appealing object of student for students in a range of disciples, including Art, Theology, History, and Theater.
Dalí produced a tabletop-sized variation of this work in an edition of 300 (Descharnes fig. 424, p. 168.) This larger version (not listed in the catalogue raisonné) was produced in a small edition of artist proofs by the foundry near Verona, Italy, that cast Dalí's other large-format works.Type of Sculpture
Free StandingArtwork Details
Medium
Bronze, lost wax coating, proof 3 of 19 state proofsMade/Created
Artist
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i DomènechDate made
1974General Notes
Note
stamped “FONDERIA ART / F.LL.I. BONVICINI / SOMMACAMPAGNA” on the pedestal. Inscribed “3/19 PE” at base of the back of the figure’s robe. (P.E. stands for "Prueba de Estado" or "test/state proof," indicating a trial or proof casting outside the main numbered edition.)
Signature: inscribed “Dalí” at base of the back of the figure’s robeCreate Date
September 22, 2026Update Date
September 22, 2026