Home/Symbols/ObelisksObelisks SymbolismClassical monumentality, empire, permanence, and phallic assertion, strained by surreal physics.Common ThemesDreams, the surreal, and the unconsciousColonialism & empireMysticism & ecstasyOriginality, authorship, and appropriationPower & authorityWar & conflictLandscape & placeGender & sexualityArtworks Featuring This SymbolThe ElephantsSalvador Dali (1948)In The Elephants, Salvador Dali distills a stark paradox of <strong>weight and weightlessness</strong>: gaunt elephants tiptoe on <strong>stilt-thin legs</strong> while bearing stone <strong>obelisks</strong>. The blazing red-orange sky and tiny human figures compress ambition into a vision of <strong>precarious power</strong> and time stretched thin <sup>[1]</sup><sup>[2]</sup>.
