Christ the Redeemer, The Sense of Vision

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In the very intriguing Visual Presentation from class, we looked at aniconic and iconic religious images. Iconic images represent something like or recognizable with the mythic subject. For example, an image of Christ or Mary, which is used to represent a deity. Aniconic images represent a symbol for the mythic subject or deity. For example, the cross in Christianity, or the linga of Siva, and the natural stone salagrama of Visnu, or other natural symbols used in the non-Vedic sultus of India.

I really like to relate material we have learned in this course back to my own personal experiences. In this post, I’d like to share a story of when I was in Rio de Janeiro this past summer. I was selected to represent a local non-profit organization at the Global Youth Leadership Forum sponsored by Sony Mobile and the Streetfootballworld network. Many of the young leaders were visiting Brazil for the first time. For some, this was their first time even leaving their home countries. During the time we got to explore the city, one of the main sites everyone wanted to visit was Christ the Redeemer. This nearly 100 feet tall statue portrays Jesus Christ with his arms spread making a sort of cross symbol looking over the city of Rio.

 I interpret this statue as both an iconic and aniconic image. This is an iconic image because it is a statue of Jesus, a mythic subject, but also aniconic image because his body creates a cross shape/symbol representative of the deity. Regardless, Christ the Redeemer, in popular Christian culture, is known as one of the symbols that all Christian’s should see at least once in their lifetime if they get the chance too. 


Unfortunately, on the day we went to visit the statue it was too cloudy, and we couldn’t get a good shot of the statue. To the left is a picture that I took of the cloud covering one of the mountains in Rio. I understood that this is exactly where the Christ statue was but the clouds were preventing us from seeing it. Many of us were disappointed that we didn’t get to see that statue, and fulfill some of our life long dreams as Christians. If anything, it gives us a reason to return to Brazil in the future. I haven't yet returned to Rio and as a Christian, I still hope to see, with my own eyes, Christ the Redeemer. 

Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausMay 8, 2015 at 7:53 AM

    Good point about the both iconic and aniconic dimensions of the cross.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausMay 8, 2015 at 7:55 AM

    Good point about the both iconic and aniconic dimensions of the cross.

    ReplyDelete

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