You’re Late in Paris? Blame Dali
April 27, 2010 A*RT!? Happens
I was walking around the 5th Arrondissement and look what I saw…
No, not a bagel place in Paris (even though that is very unusual)…its Salvador Dali's sundial mounted on the wall.
Rounding the corner off of Boulevard St Germain onto Rue Saint Jacques is this unassuming, very cool and bizarre piece from surrealist master Salvador Dali.
The story behind this sundial is that in 1966, on a cloudy day while a brass band from the Beaux-Arts played, Dali unveiled this gift to the city of Paris. The sundial's scallop-shaped face symbolizes the many pilgrims that traveled Rue Saint Jacques on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain in ancient times. The hot sun they endured is represented with flames above the eyebrows.
Although it brings pizazz to this concrete wall, if you use this sundial to tell time you will miss your appointments because it doesn't work. Well, he was an artist not a clocksmith after all.
Comments
mina 05.8.2010
that's so neat. i bet i could have been sitting under that and not noticed it was made by dali even though i am a fan of his work.