Le christ d’Ossip Zadkine - Causses et Gorges de l'Aveyron

The Christ of Ossip Zadkine

Detailed description: Since 1954, the Gothic church in Caylus has been home to a monumental Christ. Carved out of an abalone trunk and standing 5.40 metres high, it is the work of Russian-born artist Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967), one of the undisputed masters of contemporary sculpture and a major figure in the history of art alongside Léger, Lipchitz, Modigliani and Chagall. Zadkine captured the artistic developments of his time, borrowing from primitivism and cubism, constantly trying to break away from styles and asserting his creative independence. This Christ, with his disproportionately large limbs, suspended by a single arm from a non-existent cross, without a loincloth around his loins, does not leave visitors, whether believers or atheists, indifferent. When it was installed in the church in Caylus, the sculpture was roundly criticised as indecent, even blasphemous.
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The Christ of Ossip Zadkine