Untitled-1750

sketchfab

ESCALA 49-2002 Anonymous (Brazil), Untitled, c. 1750 Polychrome wood 80cm (h) x 25 cm (w) On loan from Ruby Reid Thompson Head of Christ. Part of the figure of the naked, crucified Christ was probably made in southern Brazil in the later 18th century. Figures like this were popular with missionaries throughout colonial Latin America: arranged into theatrical tableaux they served as vivid aids to conversion. Dramatic permanent examples of such tableaux are found in the seven chapels that line the route up to the pilgrimage church of Bom Jesus in Congonhas do Campo, Minas Gerais. Each of these chapels contains a full-size representation of one of the Stations of the Cross acted out by figures carved in polychrome wood by Brazil’s greatest colonial artist Aleijadinho. Damage to the head indicates that depending on the narrative moment the figure would have worn a crown of thorns or a halo. Created by @paoladgdf with Agisoft Metashape