id:			168740
accession number:	2010.445
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.445
updated:		2023-04-22 12:24:40.850000

Corpus (Crucified Christ), late 1800s-early 1900s. Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Cabinda, Kongo people. Copper alloy; overall: 16.5 x 12.5 x 2.5 cm (6 1/2 x 4 15/16 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.445

title:				Corpus (Crucified Christ)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			late 1800s-early 1900s
creation date earliest:		1880
creation date latest:		1920
current location:		
creditline:			René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Cabinda, Kongo people
technique:	Copper alloy
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 16.5 x 12.5 x 2.5 cm (6 1/2 x 4 15/16 x 1 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture
	opening date:   2013-10-27T00:00:00
	<i>Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels, Belgium (1945-1949)

* Leuven, Belgium

* Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.

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PROVENANCE

	Charles Ralet, Brussels, BE, 1945, sold to Jef and René Vanderstraete
	date: ?-1945
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Jef and René Vanderstraete, Lasne, BE, 1959, sold to René and Odette Delenne
	date: 1945-1959
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1959-2010
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
	date: 2010
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
This figure combines Kongo artists’ attention to symmetry with the Western depiction of Christ, lifeless on the cross.

digital description:
One of two Christian-inspired objects in the Delenne collection identifying the far-reaching networks of trade, diplomacy, religion, and cross-cultural exchange. Kongo Christian symbols were created as spiritual tools to help explain and alleviate the turbulent situation between Central African religion and Catholicism. This figurine is geometric in style, combining both Christian ideals and preexisting Kongo artistic practices. Its pierced hands and feet link him to crucifixion images.

wall description:
The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 1300s and rapidly consolidated into a centralized state. Shortly after the arrival of the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam in 1483, and the Catholic missionaries traveling with him, the Kongo king was baptized as João I, and Christianity became the state religion. Commercial and diplomatic relationships may have been solidified between the Kongo kingdom and the Portuguese, but civil war, the Atlantic slave trade, and Christian proselytism would cause serious disruption and turmoil in Kongo society during the ensuing centuries. Testifying to the interaction between Central African religion and Catholicism, Kongo crucifixes were created as new spiritual tools to help explain and alleviate the turbulent situation.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	de Borchgrave d'Alténa, J. "Christs de l'ancien Congo." <em>L'Artisan et les Arts Liturgiques</em> [special issue on Art chrétien du Congo] 18, vol 4 (1949): 376.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 376, fig. 1
	url:		

	Petridis, Constantine, et al. <em>Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 40-41, 54-58, 108.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 42; mentioned: pp. 40, 108 112, cat. 5
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.445/2010.445_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.445/2010.445_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.445/2010.445_full.tif