Madrid - Spain's Supreme Court has ordered the Madrid authorities to preserve a sculptural ensemble created by surrealist artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), which they had intended to take apart, the daily El Pais reported Thursday. The ensemble on the central Salvador Dali Square comprises a four-metre-high bronze statue of 17th-century scientist Isaac Newton moving forward on a pavement with a radial design against the backdrop of a dolmen supported by three 10-metre pillars.
The local authorities decided in 2003 to redesign the square to contain a fountain and an open-air sculpture museum.
The dolmen would have been moved to a distance of 50 metres and the statue would have been taken to a park, according to residents who launched a legal battle against the plan.
The reform would have destroyed the artistic significance of one of Dali's last major works, which the eastern Spanish artist designed in 1985, the residents argued.
