Crucifix
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
name: label: Maker
content: Kongo artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: Fifteenth-century missionaries and Portuguese emissaries aware of the scepters and staffs used as emblems of power among Kongo rulers introduced crucifixes into this local custom. Kongo artists continued creating images of Christ, which tend to have African features, even after the missionaries departed in the mid-18th century. The cross in Kongo cosmology represents the meeting of this world and the spirit world, which may account for the continued use of the crucifix.
label: Provenance
content: Paul and Ruth Tishman, New York
label: Exhibition History
content: Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
label: Exhibition History
content: Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
label: Exhibition History
content: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009-June 4, 2014
label: Exhibition History
content: African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2007-March 31, 2009
label: Exhibition History
content: For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
label: Exhibition History
content: Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 16, 1968-January 5, 1969; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, August 31-November 1, 1970; University of Texas College of Fine Arts, Austin; City Art Museum, St. Louis, August 20-October 17, 1971; Des Moines Art Center; Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV
label: Published References
content: Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2006. "African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection." Tribal Arts 43, p. 87, no. 15.
label: Published References
content: Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Bryna Freyer and Andrea Nicolls. 2007. African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 78-79, no. 20.
label: Published References
content: Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. xix, 113, no. 7, pl. 43.
label: Published References
content: Mellor, S. 2007. From Delicious to Not Quite Right: Subtleties in Discerning the Authenticity of African Art. Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Volume 14 CD. Washington, DC: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, p.15.
label: Published References
content: Sieber, Roy and Arnold Rubin. 1968. Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, p. 122, no. 132.
label: Published References
content: Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 204-205, no. 120.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Democratic Republic of the Congo
topic: label: Topic
content: Leadership
label: Topic
content: Status
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
label: Exhibition
content: Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
label: On View
content: NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2005-6-106
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Copper alloy
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 21.6 x 17.5 x 3.5 cm (8 1/2 x 6 7/8 x 1 3/8 in.)