The artwork depicts a surrealist scene dominated by two large tigers lunging through the air. The first tiger emerges from a large, burst pomegranate, while the second tiger follows behind, lunging toward a rifle bayonet pointed at its mouth. Suspended above these creatures in the sky is a long-legged elephant carrying an obelisk, a hallmark of surrealist composition. Below this chaotic aerial scene, a nude woman reclines peacefully on a small, floating rock platform set against a serene, vast blue sea and horizon.
The painting employs a high-contrast style typical of Dalí, blending realistic anatomical detail with dreamlike, impossible physics. The color palette transitions from the warm, vibrant oranges and ochres of the tigers and the pomegranate to the cool, expansive blues of the sky and ocean. The light appears bright and desert-like, casting long, thin shadows that emphasize the weightlessness of the flying subjects.
The composition is vertically oriented, utilizing negative space to create a sense of scale and isolation. In the lower foreground, a single small pomegranate fruit rests on the rocky shelf near the reclining figure. The overall mood is one of strange, hypnotic tension, balancing the violent, dynamic energy of the leaping predators with the absolute stillness of the woman sleeping in the sun. This is a classic example of surrealist oil painting, rendered with smooth, precise brushwork that heightens the illusion of the bizarre subject matter.