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Christ and the Lamb

A work made of gilded wood and mirror.

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  • A work made of gilded wood and mirror.

Date:

1988

Artist:

Jeff Koons
American, born 1955

About this artwork

Having turned to art after a brief stint as a Wall Street commodities trader, Jeff Koons creates beautifully crafted and often controversial sculptures. An elaborate, Rococostyle mirror, Christ and the Lambis also a visual puzzle: its frame shapes the mirror surface into the figure of the infant Jesus playing with a lamb, taken from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1508; Musée du Louvre, Paris). Viewers thus see their own image superimposed on the body of the Christ Child. Koons has said, “Anything that reflects has a kind of spiritual transcendence because it involves the viewer. It acknowledges your presence. Every time you move, the reflection changes; it always acknowledges you.”

Status

On View, Gallery 292

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Jeff Koons

Title

Christ and the Lamb

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1988

Medium

Gilded wood and mirror

Edition

1 of 3, plus 1 artist's proof

Dimensions

200.7 × 139.7 × 17.8 cm (79 × 55 × 7 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection

Reference Number

2015.140

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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