救世基督像伸展的双臂既是拥抱也是十字架

Stand far enough back on the bay at Rio and the figure resolves into the shape it stands in place of. A man with his arms open, seen from a distance, is a crucifix without the wood. So the answer is both at once: the outstretched arms are an embrace, and they are a cross, and we are not meant to choose. That double reading was in the design from the beginning, and it very nearly did not happen. The…