The colossal statue of Christ the Redeemer at the summit of Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro Brazil is the most famous statue of Jesus and is also considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments and is now selfie central.

The giant Christ the Redeemer was completed in 1931 and stands 98 feet (30 metres) tall, its horizontally outstretched arms spanning 92 feet (28 metres). The statue, made of reinforced concrete clad in a mosaic of thousands of triangular soapstone tiles, sits on a square stone pedestal base about 26 feet (8 metres) high, which itself is situated on a deck atop the mountain’s summit.

From afar, the statue is a cross in the sky. Close up, the statue’s size overwhelms the human form. Wherever you look at him, this is one big Jesus and it is easy to understand why it is one of the Wonders of the Modern World.

The statue has now become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms.

My mother and I had been welcomed into the city with open arms and were ready to get up close and personal with the big man himself. I had seen many fantastic photos of the statue and was excited to get a few snaps of my own.

Now Mount Corcovado is high… And Jesus is tall… He literally had his head in the clouds and was in no mood for selfies.

We waited… And waited… And waited…

Eventually we decided we weren’t going to get much of an opportunity to admire the tall guy let alone take a photo with him. So we started to make our way down the escalators.

And then we had what seemed like a religious moment. The clouds parted and Jesus appeared above us. We were already descending down the escalators but my Mum was so excited that she yelled at me to run up and get a photo…

Running up escalators was fun as a kid but I had lost 86.7% of my coordination since then. I somehow made it up. Hardly realising my Mum was following.

Mum did’t quite make it…

Stacking it on the escalator she yelled at me to go ahead and get a photo – (which I basically translated as ‘go on without me’ because the moment seemed so dramatic.

The escalator monitor man below had meanwhile seen the situation, quickly stopped the escalator and ran to Mum’s rescue.

With a hot Brazilian guy saving my Mum on the escalator my mission skipped my mind and I forgot about Christ the Redeemer altogether.

By the time I turned around I saw the clouds cover over Jesus’s  face.

Mission failed.

It must have been some reflection of my lack of faith… My mother on the other hand was experiencing a miracle.