Eccentric, meticulous to an extreme, and a great connoisseur of Freudian theories, Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) left his mark on the history of Surrealism as much as on that of modern art. His technique, however, reveals a highly refined realism, reflecting his passion for the Italian and Spanish Old Masters (Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Diego Velázquez, etc.).