Dali Museum Goes For Baroque ST. PETERSBURG (WUSF) - The impact of Baroque artists such as El Greco and expecially Diego de Velasquez are as plain as the mustache on Salvador Dali's face. There it is - the famous upturned curlicue - on Velasquez' "Philip IV Wearing Armor, with a Lion at his Feet."

This is the first-ever appearance of the 17th-century painting in Florida. It is on loan from the Prado in Madrid and has been strategically set on the wall at the Dali Museum next to a self-portrait of the surrealistic master. William Jeffett, the museum's Curator of Special Exhibitions, says it shows how Dali's surrealistic works would not have been possible without the Baroque masters.

JEFFETT: In the early 50s and onward, Dali was thinking about Velasquez and old master painting. And I think he sort of looked to Velasquez as a model of the greatest painter of Spanish painting. Which was something he considered to be in this tradition, that he was the greatest painter of the 20th century.

"Dali and the Spanish Baroque" is on exhibit in St. Petersburg through the end of June. © Copyright 2013, WUSF