Bbc The Private Life of a Masterpiece ; Christ of St John of The Cross by Salvador Dali (2006)

Salvador Dali's strange crucifixion is often called the greatest religious painting of the 20th century. Yet its artist was a notorious blasphemer some of whose work had outraged the Catholic Church. The Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali is the first of two extraordinary crucifixions painted by Dali in the early 1950s. The painting is based on a 'cosmic dream' Dali is said to have had, in which the nucleus of the atom was a figure of Christ himself.

This extraordinary crucifiction scene - inspired by a weird mix of Spanish mysticism and nuclear physics - is often called the 20th century's greatest religious painting. Yet the artist was a notorious blasphemer whose work had provoked outrage in the Catholic Church.