After a failed attempt, due to lack of funds, to erect a religious monument in 1850 on the peak of the 700m Corcovado mountain, overlooking Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, in 1921 the Catholic Circle of Rio managed to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of a monumental statue. The designs included a representation of a cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. Eventually the statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) with open arms, a symbol of peace, was chosen.
The statue, designed by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and sculpted by Paul Landowski, was constructed between 1922 and 1931 of reinforced concrete (after a design by Albert Caquot), with the outer layers from soapstone. At the inauguration, the statue was meant to be lit by a battery of floodlights triggered remotely by Guglielmo Marconi, located in Rome, 9,200km away, but the weather affected the signal and it had to be lit by workers in Rio. With 39.6m hight (including the pedestal), 30m wide, and 635t weight, it is considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world and the 5th largest statue of Jesus in the world.
The statue is part of the Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea, become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting a trumpet, is part of a series of ten, issued in 2002. The following two are part of a definitive series representing Profissões (Professions), about which I wrote here.
References
Cristo Redentor (statue) - Wikipedia
sender: Genesio Wagner (direct swap)
sent from Parobé (Rio Grande do Sul / Brazil), on 03.08.2012
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