Figure in wooden frame with Christian cross

Description

wood, pigment residues, base

In the 17th century, Portuguese Capuchin monks founded the mission station Sainte-Marie de Matamba in Angola. From there, the missionaries were active in the entire region and preached the gospel with crucifix and votive pictures framed in glass (“santu”).

In the course of time, the Holo picked up elements borrowed from Christianity and integrated them in a quite individual, syncretic manner into the “nzambi”- cult. With its outstretched arms, the figure in the “nzambi” frame is reminiscent of the image of Christ on the cross.