Sophia Institute Press has a book, Visions of the Divine, written by Stephen Auth. The book goes through Catholic paintings and artwork. One painting discussed in the book is Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali.
There are 2 points to be made about this painting. One is that the perspective is from ABOVE Jesus. So we’re seeing this from God the Father’s eyes. The second point is all the black in the painting. Auth argued that:
“Dali never fully explained this, but I think the darkness in heaven is a sign that God the Father’s eyes is in mourning, for the sacrifice of His Son. Maybe God is even crying, for a moment.”
The book states that the darkness made the painting controversial when it first appeared. It doesn’t speak to the details of the controversy, but I can guess it had to do with knowing that heaven is a happy place. But remember that feelings are morally neither good nor bad. While at the same time, valid. Furthermore, it’s a good thing to have compassion and mourn for another person who is suffering, especially if that person is innocent.
May we be grateful that Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to do die for us and that we have a heavenly Father who mourns for us when we suffer. May we have compassion on others who suffer.