Escultura y Dolmen de Dalí, Madrid

The Dalí Sculpture and Dolmen is a public monument conceived by Salvador Dalí: a granite dolmen stands beside a male figure in bronze, giving this plaza an unmistakable pairing of stone and motion. The dolmen rises 13.13 metres, with a natural slab carried by three carved granite supports. Dalí chose this ancient building form to evoke humanity’s earliest construction, while the figure represents Isaac Newton and the achievements of science.

Look at the opening through the figure’s chest: a sphere hangs within it, while another pendulum swings from his extended arm. The pedestal carries the letters GALA, honouring Dalí’s wife and muse. The figure adapts a work Dalí made in 1969, titled Homage to Newton.

The monument opened in July 1986, after Dalí approved the project through signed sketches. Its original paving formed the image of Christ on the cross, but that surface disappeared during the plaza’s redesign in 2003. A proposed relocation was blocked in 2009, and the work received heritage protection in 2010.