The Redeemer Jesus Christ is the most famous statue and one of the largest sculptures depicting Christ. It is included in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World and is a unique piece of sculpture and architecture both for Brazil and for the whole world.
Description of the statue
Jesus Christ the Redeemer is a soapstone-coated reinforced concrete sculpture depicting Christ in full growth with outstretched arms and bowed head in such a way that he looks both bowed, blessing the city, and accepted the crucifix. The face is depicted based on the Catholic perception - thin, with high cheekbones, long hair and a beard. The robe is made in the form of a tunic, in which Jesus is also depicted most often. This statue of Jesus Christ is located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), on top of Mount Corcovado.
The height of the statue is thirty meters, excluding the eight-meter pedestal, the span of huge arms reaches 28 meters, and the weight is about 635 tons.
Historycreation
The plan to create a statue of Jesus Christ was timed by the local government to coincide with the centenary of Brazil's National Independence in 1922. At that time, the capital of the state was the city of Rio de Janeiro, and therefore, without much thought, it was decided to install the statue here. Since the government itself did not have the funds for a global build, and most of the local residents living off tourism were very interested in creating a national monument that could attract attention, a fundraiser was established by Cruzeiro magazine to build the statue.
The same magazine also initiated a survey designed to choose the best place for the construction of Christ the Redeemer. The peak of Corcovado was chosen by a majority vote, being the highest point in the nearby district. As a result, by joint efforts, including contributions from ordinary citizens, ministers of the church and members of the government, more than two and a half million milreis (the Brazilian monetary unit of that time) were collected - an amount incomprehensible for Brazil in the twenties.
When the money was collected, construction began - since 1923, individual parts of the statue were made in France, and then, by rail, were delivered to Brazil. In this respect, Christ the Redeemer is the brother of the American Statue of Liberty, also made in France and delivered to the construction site disassembled. In general, the creation of a statueJesus Christ in Rio took nine years - its grand opening, accompanied by consecration, took place on October 12, 1931.
Creators
The final form of the monument, including outstretched arms and the figurative form of a cross, was approved in the very first sketch of the artist Carlos Oswald. However, his sketch suggested a pedestal in the shape of a huge globe, but this idea had to be abandoned due to high cost and instability. The necessary practical changes to the artistic design were made by the Brazilian engineer and architect Heitor da Silva Costa, creating the final and approved project. More than fifty architects and sculptors worked on the creation of the figure of Christ - for example, his head was first modeled by the Frenchman Paul Landowski, and then, over the course of six years, was created by the Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonid.
Tourist value of the monument
As one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, the most famous statue of Jesus, and one of the most famous statues in the world in general, the statue of Jesus Christ the Redeemer attracts about two million tourists every year. A convenient way to climb to the foot of the sculpture is Brazil's first electric railway, but you can also get to it by motorway, following by car through the Tijuca forest, which is not only a national park in Brazil, but also the largest forest in the world located within the cities.
Interesting facts
Because the head of the statue of Jesus Christ is the mostthe highest point of Rio de Janeiro, it is regularly hit by lightning - according to meteorologists, the average number is four strikes per year. Since lightning often leaves damage on sculpture, the Brazilian Catholic Diocese has a huge supply of soapstone, designed to repair damage without distorting the appearance of the statue. In 2013 and 2014, Christ's fingertips were damaged by lightning, but the flaw was fixed in the near future.
In 2003, escalators appeared at the foot of the monument, which greatly simplified the ascent to the observation deck. And in 2010, the statue was vandalized for the first and last time - it is not known how, but the inscriptions “The cat from the house - the mice dance” appeared on the face and hands of Jesus, made in black paint. They were immediately removed, and since then regular security and video surveillance have been on duty around the statue.
Statue appearances in movies
The statue of Jesus Christ has been shown many times in various films and cartoons - sometimes just accidentally getting into the frame as a symbol of Rio de Janeiro, and sometimes even appearing in small plot lines. For example, in one of the short stories of the film “Rio, I love you”, the main character is talking to a statue, in the popular science film “Life after people”, the example of a sculpture shows the destruction of civilization buildings at different time intervals, and in the film “1 + 1” the main characters fulfill their dream by paragliding over Christ the Redeemer.
Other Famous Jesus Statues
The second most popular statue depicting the son of God is the statue of Jesus Christ at the bottom of the ocean, better known as "Christ from the Abyss." This statue, two and a half meters high, is located at a sea depth of up to 17 meters, in the Genoa region, in the Italian bay of San Fruttuoso. The sculpture was installed in 1954, and is one of the most beautiful and mysterious works of world architecture.
In addition to this, there are several giant statues of Jesus Christ at the bottom of the ocean - all of them, as a rule, are called "Christ from the Abyss", and are either exact copies of this one, or variations on the theme. They are located, for example, off the coasts of Grenada, Florida, the M altese archipelago.
It is also worth mentioning the largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world - it is called the "Statues of Christ the King" and is located in the Polish city of Swiebodzin. The height of the monument is 52 meters, which makes it not only the tallest Jesus, but also one of the largest monuments in the world. For comparison, its height without a pedestal is 36 meters, which is only 10 meters less than the height of the Statue of Liberty (also without a pedestal). This monument was inaugurated and consecrated in 2010, becoming the most significant work of modern architecture in Poland.
