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Parker Ramey

Professor Jeffrey Morehead

Art History 2510

30 November 2015

Art History 2510 Museum Paper

The two works compared in this paper are Cross, a bronze sculpture by an unknown

Kongo artist from the mid-17th – 18th century, and The Veiled Rebekah, a marble sculpture by the

Italian artist Giovanni Maria Benzoni from 1864. Though the two works are dissimilar in their

style, medium, and context, the fact that the two pieces are both one of many similar works, and

both showcase prominent Christian religious figures and iconography in a sculpture in the round

medium ties them together.

Cross is a sculpture that was cast in bronze, rather than carved in marble like The Veiled

Rebekah, probably using the lost-wax method of casting. The lost-wax method, which has

existed in Africa from as early on as the 9th century AD, involves making a negative mold of the

original sculpture, from which a wax model is made. The wax model is then covered with a

second mold made of fireproof clay. This final mold is heated, causing the wax model to be

“lost” and melt out from it. Molten bronze is then poured into the empty clay mold to produce

the final cast sculpture. This would have allowed religious iconography and other culturally

significant art to spread quickly through Africa, by effectively making copies of the same piece

in a precursor to today’s mass-manufacturing of prints and scale replicas of popular art. Cross

and other African cast bronze statues, similarly to the carved idols that made up much of
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Paleolithic art, would have been durable and easy to transport because of their small size, and

would have had some cultural significance to the owner.

In direct contrast to the more simplistic copycat process involved in Cross’s creation, The

Veiled Rebekah was carved from white marble with the intent of showcasing the artist’s talent at

marble sculpture. According to the High Museum’s documentation, the difficult-to-capture

subject of a veiled figure was conceived in 18th century Italy, and was popularized in the 19th

century as a way to display an artist’s virtuosity with the medium of marble. However, despite it

being an original work instead of a copy, a total of four identical sculptures were hand-carved by

Benzoni. Similarly to Cross, The Veiled Rebekah was one of many pieces in a similar vein,

though not an exact copy. Instead of being copies of one another created through a casting

process designed to spread Christian iconography, the many veiled figures from this time period

were created in a spirit of one-upmanship by artists trying to make a name for themselves in the

world of marble sculpture. Some of these artists, as is especially the case with Benzoni, would

create multiple copies of the same sculpture in order to further promote themselves.

Cross depicts a crucified Jesus flanked by two praying figures of unknown identity. His

features appear to be exaggeratedly African, with a large nose and lips, as well as almond-shaped

eyes. This contrasts the European features Jesus is shown with in most Christian art, which is

evidence that the image of Jesus was being assimilated into African culture and changing to

match their ideals through cultural cross-pollination. Stylistically, Jesus’ features are simple at

best, and crude at worst, both due to the simplistic casting method used to create Cross, and the

emphasis of the work’s story, the Crucifixion of Jesus, over any form of realism. This story-over-

realism ethos is common in Early Christian art, and would’ve migrated to Africa along with the

religion. Finally, Jesus’ ribs, as well as the pattern on the belt of the African loincloth he is
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depicted wearing, display a geometric quality that is characteristic of Early Medieval and Greek

Geometric art, both of which are art styles that also favor story or style over realism.

The Veiled Rebekah depicts Rebekah, who appears in the Book of Genesis as the wife of

Abraham’s son, Isaac. In direct contrast to the story-over-realism approach evident in Cross, the

main focus of The Veiled Rebekah is the female figure. The hyper-realistic quality of the dress’

fabric, and how the semi-transparent veil shows an impression of her face are meant to showcase

the artist’s skill at working with marble. The dress’ flowing qualities take their influence from

the wet drapery style of Early Classical Greece, which is meant to emphasize the sculptor’s

knowledge of the female form without depicting it nude. The veil’s wet, semi-transparent

properties in this piece are arguably the natural progression from the wet drapery style, but

function as a form of showmanship on the part of the artist rather than as a way to depict

proportions. According to the High Museum’s records, the individual details of the sculpture,

such as Rebekah’s demure expression and welcoming outstretched hand are meant to portray her

as an idealized woman according to the standards of the 19th Century’s Victorian Era. This

idealized depiction stems from an ethos that has existed not just since Early Classical Greece, but

in other, older ancient art as well, that the human body should be depicted in its ideal form.

Cross displays Christian iconography that is meant to communicate the story of Jesus’

crucifixion, as well as other symbols that are unique to African interpretations of Christianity and

African spiritualism. According to an article in the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, from The

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website on a similar piece, called Crucifix, Jesus’ flattened hands

and feet, as well as the way that his feet seem to merge together are meant to symbolize

heightened spiritual power. His stylized, ovular eyes are meant to depict Jesus having a

supernatural, spiritual vision. These oval-shaped eyes are also present on the stylized praying
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figures on either side of Jesus. It is unknown who or what these figures are meant to represent,

but theories suggest that they could be angels or even devotees mourning his fate. Crosses such

as these were believed by the people of the Kongo to have magical protective properties and

were believed to be involved in matters of everything from fertility to rainfall. The Kongo people

affording mystical powers to their art is similar to the phenomenon of Christian idol worship that

occurred during the Byzantine Period in Europe.

Again, in direct contrast to Cross, The Veiled Rebekah has little to no iconography or

symbolism at play. However, the piece does convey the purity of Rebekah, who is captured on

the day of her marriage to Isaac, the son of Abraham. Her veil is in fact a transparent wedding

veil, meant to symbolize her purity and innocence. However, this is the extent of the work’s

inherent symbolism; other aspects of what it represents are derived from the work’s historical

context. The Veiled Rebekah also represents the sculptor’s, Giovanni Maria Benzoni’s, ego. He

created The Veiled Rebekah in order to show off the artistry that he could accomplish within the

medium of marble, and created not just one, but four copies in order to promote himself as an

artist.

In conclusion, the fundamental difference between Cross and The Veiled Rebekah is that

Cross, by an unknown author from mid-17th – 18th century Kongo, is a piece that is meant to

speak for itself, to convey the message and the belief system of Christianity cross-pollinated by

the fundamental ideals of Kongo culture. It doesn’t matter who cast the bronze, because the

focus is on the work’s message rather than the artistry behind it. The Veiled Rebekah, by

Giovanni Maria, from 1864 Italy, is Cross’ polar opposite, in that it speaks not for itself, but for

its author. It conveys only Rebekah’s purity as its message, and was created solely to showcase

the artist’s skill at working with marble as a means of self-promotion. The two pieces are
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influenced by vastly different artistic movements, originate from corners of the world far-

removed from one another, and were created for entirely different purposes, but nonetheless

share a common thread. Despite having such disparate stylistic and cultural influences, they are

both one of multiple copies of themselves that depict iconic Christian figures in a sculpture in the

round medium.