In his rendition of “Les Amours de Cassandre” by Ronsard, Dali illustrates the favorite themes of the famous poet and humanist from the French Renaissance. His wonderful portrait of Ronsard, wearing a toga and a wreath of laurel, is a humorous reminder of the “Carpe diem” of Epicurus. Love, Death and the passing of time, expressed with much refinement and harmony in their association with the cycles of nature, remind us of our vulnerability as mortal beings. In “L‘Art Poétique”, Ronsard compared poetry with painting: “L’oreille est juge de la structure des vers comme l’œil de la peinture des tableaux”. (“The ear is the judge of the structure of verse, while the eye is the judge of brushstrokes”). Intuitively, he had opened the way to a dalinian interpretation.
