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Christ figure

18th–19th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 344
This representation of Christ powerfully distills certain features to endow the figure with a highly expressive character. Both the arms that extend outward at the summit and the legs that are joined at the base terminate in flattened star-like appendages. At the center of the composition, dramatic emphasis is given to the ribs and navel, while the garment is defined schematically as a flattened knot and a rectangular drape filled with an “x.”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Christ figure
  • Artist: Kongo artist
  • Date: 18th–19th century
  • Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Angola
  • Culture: Kongo
  • Medium: Brass
  • Dimensions: H. 6 × W. 4 3/8 × D. 5/8 in. (15.2 × 11.1 × 1.6 cm)
  • Classification: Metal-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Ernst Anspach, 1999
  • Object Number: 1999.295.3
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
Seated tumba (memorial figure), Kongo artist, Steatite, Kongo
Seated tumba (memorial figure)
Kongo artist
Late 18th–early 19th century
Commemorative Mother and Child Figure, Yombe-Kongo artist, Wood, glass, metal, pigment, Yombe-Kongo peoples
Commemorative Mother and Child Figure
Yombe-Kongo artist
19th–first half of 20th century
Court official from a commemorative altar, Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Brass, iron, Edo peoples
Court official from a commemorative altar
Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists
16th–17th century
Eyema byeri (reliquary guardian figure), Okak-Fang artist, Wood, copper alloy, palm oil, Okak-Fang peoples
Eyema byeri (reliquary guardian figure)
Okak-Fang artist
19th century
Pendant with Saint Anthony of Padua, Kongo artist, Partially hollow cast brass, Kongo peoples; Kongo Kingdom
Pendant with Saint Anthony of Padua
Kongo artist
16th–19th century

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