You might have seen the statue on postcards, in television shows, or in movies. The massive “Christ the Redeemer” statue can be found in Brazil, where it overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro from a great height, arms outstretched in benevolence.
Considered the largest art deco statue in the world, the carefully-sculpted image of Christ stands over 130 feet tall and is over 90 feet wide. It weighs almost 700 tons and has a place high above the city, at an elevation of 2300 feet. It sits on the Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca National Park.
In the 1850s, a priest named Pedro Maria Boss approached Princess Isabel about erecting a religious monument. The idea was bounced about for many years but effectively tabled in 1889, when Brazil became a republic and laws condoning the separation of church and state were put into place. The idea was raised again in 1921 by a group called the Catholic Circle of Rio. Money was raised via donations, and several options for the statue were considered, including a massive cross, or Jesus holding a globe in his hands. The final chosen work was that of Jesus with outstretched arms, inviting all faithful to come to him.
The statue was built out of reinforced concrete with a soapstone outer layer, making it easier to build, more cost-effective, and better able to stand up to weather conditions. Building the statue took nine years, and the monument was finally opened to the public in October 1931. Floodlights illuminated the statue, which was said to have cost $250,000 dollars to complete.
The use of soapstone paid off in 2008, when the statue was struck by lightning during a massive electrical storm. The city of Rio was plunged into chaos by the storm, but the statue took a direct hit of lightning without a single scratch. Soapstone is an insulator, which is the scientific reason that it was left unharmed; however, many see the strike as a religious sign.
Today, the statue is a place of pilgrimage for tourists and religious believers alike. The statue has become both a cultural icon and a place of prayer, even boasting a church at its base, which is often used for celebrations of weddings and other life-changing events. In 2007, it was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and hosts tens of thousands of visitors every year.