A SALVADOR Dalí painting inspired by a “cosmic dream” will go on display at one of the region’s top heritage attractions.

The Christ of St John of the Cross by Dalí will be loaned to Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland in 2019, a year after the attraction reopens following a major restoration project.

Painted in 1951, the painting was bought by the City of Glasgow the following year for £8,200 and is currently on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

It remains one of the Scottish gallery’s most popular paintings, with millions of people stopping to admire it each year.

The painting depicts Jesus Christ on the cross above a body of water in which boats and fishermen can be seen. Despite being a picture of the crucifixion there are no nails, blood or crown of thorns, with Dali claiming to have visualised the scene that way in a “cosmic dream.”

Hollywood stuntman Russell Saunders modelled for the figure of Christ, and Dalí arranged for him to be suspended from an overhead gantry so he could see how the body appeared from his desired angle.

Duncan Dornan, head of Glasgow Museums, said he was delighted to loan the work to Auckland Castle as it would allow even more people to admire it.

He said: “Glasgow’s art collection is considered one of the finest in Europe and loaning key pieces increases access to the works so that people across the country and indeed the world can enjoy them, bolstering our reputation.”

The Christ of St John of the Cross will remain on show at Kelvingrove for most of the school summer holidays this year, before it is taken down in early August in preparation for its move to the Royal Academy in London.

Here it will be one of the star attractions of Dalí/Duchamp, an eagerly anticipated exhibition opening in the capital this October.

The painting will then travel with the exhibition to The Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Florida, where it will remain from February to May next year.

Dalí/Duchamp is the first exhibition to throw light on the surprising relationship between the two artistic giants - the father of conceptual art Marcel Duchamp and Surrealist Salvador Dalí.