Christ the Redeemer (statue)

Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro and it was considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world from 1931 until 2010 when it was topped by the Christ the King statue in Poland. It is 30 metres tall,not including its 8 metres pedestal, and its arms stretch 28 metres (92 wide. It weighs 635 tonnes and is located at the peak of the 700-metre Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. A symbol of Brazilian Christianity,the statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931.

The idea of building a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the mid-1850s, when Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss requested financing from Princess Isabel to build a large religious monument. The second proposal for alandmark statue on the mountain was made in 1920 by the Catholic Circle of Rio.The group organized an event called Semana do Monumento  to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. 

Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue; it was sculpted by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski.