Meaning Explained: Salvador Dali's Melting Clocks

The Persistence of Memory is arguably Dali’s most famous painting. Its iconic "melting clocks" have become an icon of Surrealism and one of the most recognizable pieces of art of the twentieth century. While the painting's true secret meaning is uncertain, Salvador Dali most likely knowingly encrypted all of these layers of historical, psychological, artistic, social and autobiographical meaning into his mysterious, enduring work of art. There may be even more layers of meaning hidden in The Persistence of Memory that we haven't found yet.