A fine Kongo cross

of large proportions, composed of two overlapping slats of wood overlaid with brass caps at each tip, with a central Christ figure cast in brass and a sheet of brass in repoussé attached behind the head above an abstract supplicant figure cast in brass; exceptionally fine aged surface overall.

Acquired from Anuschka Menist, Haarlem (The Netherlands), December 30, 1985

The Kingdom of Kongo probably developed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries through gradual expansion of alliances and military conquest. The capital, Mbanza Kongo, gradually became a large and powerful state. Portuguese sailors arrived in the capital in 1483 in search of new mercantile possibilities. At the time, Portugal's commercial expansion was coupled with a committed missionary spirit that actively sought to convert any people encountered to Christianity. In 1499 Pope Alexander VI granted King Manuel I of Portugal patronage over all African lands that had been or were to be discovered by the Portuguese. In 1512 Manuel in turn sent a document to the King of Kongo, proposing a plan for the organization of the Kongo state on the model of a Christian monarch. Various local Kongo rulers were converted to Christianity, among them the King himself.

The process of conversion was visually reinforced by the widespread use of religious imagery such as the crucifix or the image of the Virgin Mary. The Crucifix figures were cast by Kongolese artists after Portuguese models, which became extraordinarily popular owing to the teaching of Capuchin priests.

Gradually, over time, however, the casting of the Christ figures began to resemble Africans rather than Portuguese and the meaning of the crosses shifted away from Christian connotations and towards local concepts and beliefs with crosses therefore being used well into the 20th century (Phillips 1995: 24). Following this stylistic model, one can place the Brill cross among the earlier crosses made during the time of strongest Portuguese influence based on the European naturalism of the Christ figure.

See Bassani and Fagg (1988: figure 10) for related crucifixes; and Phillips (ibid.) for another showing the Christ figure with a more African physiognomy.