What huge controversy this painting caused when it was purchased by the Glasgow Corporation in the 1950s for £8,200. People were up in arms that so much money could be spent on one piece of art.

When I was 10 years old, I was taken to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery on a school trip. I say trip but then I went to Hillhead Primary School, which was just a short walk away from the gallery. I can’t remember the name of my teacher, or many of the people who were in my class, but as clear as if it were yesterday I can remember the impact of this quite extraordinary painting.

Neither of my parents was particularly musical or artistic, so I had no background in appreciation or understanding of the arts. I remember standing there with 30 other children and the room falling silent around me as the painting came into view. I couldn’t understand how anybody could have such an imagination.

I knew nothing about brushstrokes or technique — we were a rugby and cricket family and that is what we talked about around the dinner table as well as the importance of a good education and passing what was in those days called the qualifying exam or old 11 plus. These were the subjects of utmost importance in the Campbell family.

But I was mesmerised by Dali’s painting and astonished by the fact that this was the product of one person’s ability. That moment has stuck with me ever since. I can almost relive it now — the feeling when I first set eyes upon it. I think we have very few moments in our lives that can be so instantly recalled, so we tend to hang on to them when we do.

I have been back to see it many times and I’m sure that if all the investments made by Glasgow Corporation had been as successful as Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross has been, they would probably be paying money to council-tax-payers rather than collecting it from them.

Sir Menzies Campbell is appearing at the Wigtown Book Festival on September 28

Editor's choice

• U2 at Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona
• The 50 Best Movie Villains
• The 15 golden rules of theatre etiquette