It's Hard Work to Restore Rio's Christ the Redeemer, but the Views Are Amazing [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Alexsandro Brauna on the shoulder of a giant. COURTESY ALEXSANDRO BRAUNA

The work is for the 90th anniversary in 2021, but the real party is still a decade away.
BY LUCY BRYSON MAY 21, 2021

Lately, from the ground far below, Rio’s famed Christ the Redeemer statue appears to be cupping tiny people in its mighty hand. It’s no miracle, unless you consider the restoration of the iconic monument more than 2,000 feet above the city a miracle. And it kind of is.

As a boy growing up in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro’s sister city, on the opposite side of Guanabara Bay, Alexsandro Brauna looked out over the water and gawked at the statue, on its perch atop Corcovado mountain, arms spread to embrace all the beauty and brutality playing out below. In 2021, the 27-year-old Brauna has been one of the tiny people in its hand. He rappels down the 100-foot statue, straddles one of those famously outstretched arms to pose for photos, and takes in a Christ’s eye view of the extraordinary cityscape below.

The world’s largest Art Deco monument and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World is getting a tip-to-toe restoration ahead of its 90th birthday in October 2021.

An alpinista industrial (rope access technician) tasked with managing the safety equipment for the restoration team, Brauna’s privileged viewpoint offers the whole city—but also a look at the tiniest details: the triangular tiles that give the statue a scaly mosaic appearance up close, the lightning-conducting spikes along its arms and head, the subtle outline of a heart on its chest.

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https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/restoring-christ-the-redeemer