Chrsit the Redeemer Statue - Research Paper Example

Christ the redeemer statute The ‘Christ the redeemer statute’ is one of the world’s outstanding arts. It is a statute of Jesus Christ and is found ontop of mount Corcovado in Brazil. The statute is outstanding because of the significance of its subject, Jesus Christ that has led to development of other similar statutes across the world. It is also significant because it is one of the largest of such statutes, globally. In Brazil, the statute is revered for its religious attribution. This paper seeks to discuss aspects of the famous ‘Christ the redeemer statute’ in Brazil.

The statute’s geographical location is the Brazilian region of “Rio de Janeiro” (Darpan, p. 379). The artwork is heavily built with a height of almost 40 meters and a weight of about 700 tons. Such features are exemplified by the location of the statute that rests on a mountaintop. It is built at one of mount Corcovado’s picks and lies at an altitude of about 700 meters above the sea level. The statute also directly faces Janeiro city, on its outskirts (Darpan, p. 379). Even though the history of the statute’s development went for more than a century, its actual construction works took about ten years.

Communal participation through contributions led to the development that is majorly concrete but has soapstone finishing on the surface. A lot of renovation work has also been done on the statute whose value is estimated to have reached about 250000 dollars (Jetsetlife, p. 1). “Carlos Oswald” designed the art that was then sculptured by “Paul Landowski” (Copa, p. 1). Development of the artwork and its history is majorly religious. This is deducible from the sculpture’s image and the history of events that led to its development.

Its representation of the image of Jesus Christ, the pillar of Christian faith, indicates a religious theme of the art and the fact that it was built to communicate reverence to Jesus Christ, in the region. Having been built from people’s collective work also means that the locals are Christian faithful. The history of the statute however dates back to the sixteenth century with the arrival of the Portuguese in the region and a subsequent renaming of the mountain to a biblical perspective. The mountain was however later renamed before a Vatican representative’s proposal for a religious monument in the year 1859.

It is this historic idea of a religious art that was developed in the year 1921 to the sculpture of Jesus Christ whose construction was supervised by Costa from 1921 (Copa, p. 1). Apart from the religious theme of the art, it is perceived to be a symbol of peace, both in Brazil and internationally (Brazil, p. 1).The statute’s major significance in Brazil is religious. It has since its development helped in drawing the locals to Christianity. This is probably because it vividly communicates the message of Christ to the people’s daily lives (Bailey, p. 114).The statute is therefore a historic artwork whose establishment had a religious basis.

It was however designed and constructed in the 21st century and is a symbol of Christianity and peace, in Brazil and the whole world. It is constructed from concrete and soapstone. Works citedBailey, William. You will never run out of Jesus. Garland, TX: Hannibal Books, 2007. Print. Brazil. Rio De Janeiro Christ the Redeemer statute. Brazil Culture and Travel. N.d. Web. October 25, 2012. < http://www.brazilcultureandtravel.com/rio-de-janeiro-christ-the-redeemer-statue.html >.Copa. Statute of Christ the Redeemer, history and pictures.

Copa Cabana. N.d. Web. October 25, 2012. < http://www.copacabana.info/Christ-the-Redeemer-history.html >.Darpan, Pratiyogita. New seven wonders of the world. Darpan, Pratiyogita. Darpan, Pratiyogita, 2007. Print. Jetsetlife. Rio De Janeiro Christ the Redeemer statute- 5 totally cool facts. Jet Set Life. February 13, 2012. Web. October 25, 2012. < http://jetsetlife.tv/destinations/rio-de-janeiro/rio-articles/rio-de-janeiro-christ-the-redeemer-statue-5-totally-cool-facts/ >.