Christ the Redeemer

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1931

Christ the Redeemer or Christ of Corcovado is a statue of Christ overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro, located on top of Corcovado mountain.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor in Portuguese) is part of the temple project Landowski worked on his entire life. He produced it separately at the request of Heitor da Silva, the Brazilian engineer who devoted his life to the construction of this monumental statue (30 meters). Paul Landowski made a 4-meter plaster model in his studio in Boulogne where he also sculpted the head (3.75 meters) and hands (3.2 meters). He also designed bas-reliefs depicting certain scenes from the life of Christ to place on the base of the statue and inside the chapel. The model was enlarged and covered in soapstone layered onto long bands of fabric sewn by the ladies of Brazilian society. The internal structure of Christ the Redeemer was designed by Albert Caquot (1881-1976), one of the greatest French engineers of the 20th century.

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