Christ the Redeemer Statue

You've no doubt seen sweeping shots of the iconic Christ the Redeemer monument overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Beyond its breathtaking views, the statue has a colorful history that’s worth exploring, and a future that could leave it looking very different from how it does today. Following the creation of the Brazilian republic in 1889, which separated church and state, fear began to grow amongst Catholics that the nation was headed toward a precipice. After World War I, followers felt they needed a symbol to counteract what they saw as increasing "godlessness" throughout the country. In 1920, they selected engineer Heitor da Silva Costa’s design of a statue of Christ to be situated on the top of Mount Corcovado overlooking the city. Da Silva Costa’s initial sketch was of Christ carrying a large cross in one hand and a globe in the other. The statue, he noted, should face the rising sun. After surveying Corcovado from various points throughout the city and consulting with Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald, Da Silva Costa came up with a new design: an Art Deco, arms-wide-open Christ.Da Silva Costa traveled to France in search of a world-class sculptor to turn his divine design into reality. He eventually commissioned Paul Landowski, a French-Polish sculptor who further sharpened the statue’s Art Deco design. Over the next several years, Landowski fashioned the 98-foot tall sculpture in clay pieces, which were then shipped to Brazil and remade with reinforced concrete, which was one of the few materials strong enough to support the statue. But Da Silva Costa and others felt concrete was too rough for the fine contours of Christ’s image and eventually chose soapstone to craft the tiles. Wind and rain have worn away at the statue’s stone tiles, necessitating numerous restorations over the years. Christ the Redeemer is also a frequent target of lightning strikes. When Da Silva Costa decided to cover the statue with soapstone tiles, he chose a very light colored strain from a quarry near the city of Ouro Preto. It was the same stone used by the 18th century Brazilian sculptor Aleijadinho, whom Da Silva Costa greatly admired. Unfortunately, the quarry has run dry, and restoration experts are having a hard time replicating the stones’ light gray hue when they have to replace them. A spokesman for Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage recently told the BBC that when the next major renovation happens in 2020, replacement stones will be darker. "The stones of Christ are hard to find," he said.