Christ the Redeemer (statue)

For other statues with this name and for other uses, see Christ the Redeemer.
Christ the Redeemer
Coordinates 22°57′7″S 43°12′38″W / 22.95194°S 43.21056°W / -22.95194; -43.21056Coordinates: 22°57′7″S 43°12′38″W / 22.95194°S 43.21056°W / -22.95194; -43.21056
Location Corcovado mountain,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Designer Created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the engineer Heitor da Silva Costa Brazil in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida created the face of the statue.
Material Soapstone
Height 30 metres (98 ft) and 38 metres (125 ft) tall with its pedestal
Completion date Dedicated October 12, 1931
Consecrated October 12, 2006
New Seven Wonders of the World July 7, 2007

Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor, standard Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈkɾistu ʁedẽˈtoʁ], local dialect: [ˈkɾiɕtŭ̻ xe̞dẽ̞ˈtoɦ]) is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face. The statue is 30 metres (98 ft) tall, not including its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal, and its arms stretch 28 metres (92 ft) wide.[1][2]

The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio. A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.[3] It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931.[4][5][6]

History

A view of the Corcovado before the construction, 19th century
Aerial view of the statue.

Vincentian priest, Pedro Maria Boss, first suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado in the mid 1850s to honor Princess Isabel, princess regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor Pedro II, however the project died due to lack of support.[1] In 1889 the country became a republic, and due to the separation of church and state, the idea of the statue was dismissed.[7]

The Catholic Circle of Rio made a second proposal for a landmark statue on the mountain in 1920.[8] The group organized an event called Semana do Monumento ("Monument Week") to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. What motivated the organization was what they perceived as 'Godlessness' in the society at the time. The donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics.[4] The designs considered for the "Statue of the Christ" included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world.[9] The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms, a symbol of peace, was chosen.

Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue French sculptor Paul Landowski created the work.[10]

In 1922, Landowski commissioned fellow Parisian Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida, who studied sculpture at the Fine Arts Conservatory in Bucharest and in Italy. Leonida's portrayal of Christ's face made him famous.[11][12]

A group of engineers and technicians studied Landowski's submissions and felt building the structure of reinforced concrete (designed by Albert Caquot) instead of steel was more suitable for the cross-shaped statue. The outer layers are soapstone, chosen for its enduring qualities and ease of use.[5] Construction took nine years, from 1922 to 1931 and cost the equivalent of US$250,000 (equivalent to $3,300,000 in 2015) and the monument opened on October 12, 1931.[5][6] During the opening ceremony, the statue was to be lit by a battery of floodlights turned on remotely by Italian shortwave radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi, stationed 5,700 miles (9,200 km) away in Rome but because of bad weather, the lights were activated on-site.[8]

In October 2006, on the 75th anniversary of the statue's completion, Archbishop of Rio, Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid, consecrated a chapel, named after Brazil's patron saint—Our Lady of the Apparition, under the statue, allowing Catholics to hold baptisms and weddings there.[6]

Lightning struck the statue during a violent thunderstorm on February 10, 2008, causing some damage to the fingers, head and eyebrows. The Rio de Janeiro state government initiated a restoration effort to replace some of the outer soapstone layers and repair the lightning rods on the statue. Lightning damaged it again, on January 17, 2014, dislodging a finger on the right hand.[13][14][15][16]

In 2010, a massive restoration of the statue began. Work included cleaning, replacing the mortar and soapstone on the exterior, restoring iron in the internal structure, and waterproofing the monument. Vandals attacked the statue during renovation, spraying paint along the arm. Mayor Eduardo Paes called the act "a crime against the nation". The culprits later apologized and presented themselves to the police.[17][18][19]

In 2015 two Russian and Ukrainian urban explorers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov from Ontheroofs, climbed the statue with captured video footage and photos.[20][21][22]

Restoration

A panoramic view of the statue at the top of Corcovado Mountain with Sugarloaf Mountain (centre) and Guanabara Bay in the background.
Christ the Redeemer at night seen from Tijuca Forest
Corcovado Rack Railway

In 1990, several organizations, including the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, media company Grupo Globo, oil company Shell do Brasil, environmental regulator IBAMA, National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage, and the city government of Rio de Janeiro entered an agreement to conduct restoration work.

More work on the statue and its environs was conducted in 2003 and early 2010. In 2003, a set of escalators, walkways, and elevators were installed to facilitate access to the platform surrounding the statue. The four-month restoration in 2010[23] focused on the statue itself. The statue's internal structure was renovated and its soapstone mosaic covering was restored by removing a crust of fungi and other microorganisms and repairing small cracks. The lightning rods located in the statue’s head and arms were also repaired, and new lighting fixtures were installed at the foot of the statue.[24]

The restoration involved one hundred people and used more than 60,000 pieces of stone taken from the same quarry as the original statue.[23] During the unveiling of the restored statue, it was illuminated with green-and-yellow lighting in support of the Brazil national football team playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[23]

Maintenance work needs to be conducted periodically due to the strong winds and erosion to which the statue is exposed, as well as lightning strikes.[25] The original pale stone is no longer available in sufficient quantities, and replacement stones are increasingly darker in hue.[26]


Similar structures

Gallery

The statue 
Access escalators 
Christ the Redeemer after restoration 
The statue iluminated in yellow and green, the colors of Brazil, during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 
Christ the Redeemer lit in the colours of the French flag after the November 2015 Paris attacks 
The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, the Archibishop of Rio, Dom Orani Tempesta and the volleyball player Isabel receives the olympic torch in the morning of the Rio 2016 opening ceremony day. 
The Corcovado and the Christ the Redeemer seen from Sugarloaf mountain. 

See also

Approximate heights of various notable statues:
1. Spring Temple Buddha 153 m (incl. 25 m pedestal and 20 m throne)
2. Statue of Liberty 93 m (incl. 47 m pedestal)
3. The Motherland Calls 91 m (excl. pedestal)
4. Christ the Redeemer 38 m (incl. 8 m pedestal)
5. Statue of David 5.17 m (excl. 2.5 m pedestal)

References

  1. 1 2 Murray, Lorraine. "Christ the Redeemer (last updated 13 January 2014)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  2. ↑ Giumbelli, Emerson (2014). Símbolos Religiosos em Controvérsia (in Portuguese). São Paulo. 244. ISBN 978-85-7816-137-8.
  3. ↑ "The New Seven Wonders of the World". Hindustan Times. July 8, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  4. 1 2 "Christ the Redeemer". TIME. October 26, 1931. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 "Brazil: Crocovado mountain – Statue of Christ". Travel Channel. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 "Sanctuary Status for Rio landmark". BBC News. October 13, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Cristo Corcovado by Sergi Lla on Prezi". Prezi.com. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Cristo Redentor – Histórico da Construção" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on March 13, 2009.
  9. ↑ Victor, Duilo. "Redentor, carioca até a alma" (in Portuguese). Jornal do Brasil. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  10. ↑ Phil, Damon (June 29, 1983). "Vote now for Phoneheng". The Sun. London.
  11. ↑ "Cristo Redentor: santuário carioca que virou símbolo da cidade no mundo". Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro. October 20, 2014. (Portuguese)
  12. ↑ Dima, Alina. "Gheorghe Leonida – Romanian contribution to "Cristo Redentor"".
  13. ↑ "Cristo Redentor vai passar por restauração até junho ("Christ the Redeemer under restoration 'til June")". Estadão.
  14. ↑ Moratelli, Valmir. "Cristo Redentor, castigado por raios, passa por ampla reforma (Christ the Redeemer, punished by lightnings, go by ample refit)". Último Segundo.
  15. ↑ "Cristo Redentor renovado para 2010" (PDF). Rio de Janeiro Government. December 2010.
  16. ↑ "Lightning breaks finger off Rio's Christ". The Age. January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Vandals cover Rio's Christ statue with graffiti". Reuters. April 16, 2010.
  18. ↑ Tabak, Bernardo. "Estátua do Cristo Redentor é alvo de pichação". Globo.
  19. ↑ Infosur hoy: Christ the Redeemer to get new outfit Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ "Climbing Christ the Redeemer youtube video". Ontheroofs. December 10, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Climbing Christ the Redeemer ontheroofs story with photos and video". Ontheroofs. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016.
  22. ↑ Millward, David (December 12, 2015). "Watch the stunning footage taken by photographers who climbed Rio's 125-feet tall Christ the Redeemer Statue". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 "Brazil's Christ state returns after renovation". BBC News. July 1, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  24. ↑ Christ the Redeemer se la come, YouTube video, accessed January 20, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Reforma no cartão-postal". Veja Rio. May 18, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  26. ↑ Bowater, Donna; Mulvey, Stephen; Misra, Tanvi (March 10, 2014). "Arms wide open". BBC Online. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  27. ↑ Kompas Cyber Media. "Presiden Resmikan Patung Yesus Kristus di Pulau Mansinam – Kompas.com Regional". Regional.kompas.com. Retrieved October 15, 2015.

Further reading

External links

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