Cristo
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Cristo” now? Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 21B, Washington, D.C. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
RoomLuce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 21B
Open now· until 7:00 PM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
In a museum installation, behind glass, these religious figures and santos are not as physically accessible as they were for worshipers in their churches or home altars. The sights, sounds, and smells surrounding this devotional image of Christ in its original context are now left to the imagination. A closer look at this figure provides a glimpse into its ritual function: rings of melted wax are visible on the base from the candles that were lit in prayer.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1996.91.42
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
![Gelek Rimpoche from Lhasa and Ann Arbor unwrapping Tibetan text & beginning to chant it, Tokden Rinpoche, handling brass Vajia (Diamond Lightning Bolt) and Ghanta (Bell) Sonam, former chanting. master of Gyuto Tantric College idling behind them at picnic table outside lodge shrine-room after lunch, "just fooling around rather than having a ceremony." Sonam came in from Chicago, Tokden from Eastern Tibet to give oral Transmissions of one-volume short-form _Prajnaparamita_ [Highest perfect wisdom] _Sutra_ to Gelek's hundred students. "Gate Gate Para Gate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha!" Over annual summer retreat, Yankee Springs State Park, Michigan, August 27, 1993., Allen Ginsberg, 1993, printed 1995](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/b1ae88f0-bb0c-4b98-bd7f-3d50148b518e/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
