Jesus is nailed to the cross
- Artist: Bruce Onobrakpeya
- Date: 1969
- Medium: Linocut on paper
- Dimensions: image: 245 x 600 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Jesus is nailed to the cross” by Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya. Created in 1969 as a linocut on paper, it is the final image in a fourteen‑print sequence that reimagines the biblical Stations of the Cross within an African context. The apostles are decked in richly patterned Adire fabrics, while the figures restraining Jesus wear colonial‑era police uniforms, blending the sacred with everyday life in post‑colonial Nigeria.
Onobrakpeya’s palette leans toward blues and greens, punctuated with yellow and orange highlights, and geometric shapes echo traditional Yoruba textiles and architecture. These formal elements structure the compositions and even extend onto the crosses that dominate each scene.
The series was originally commissioned in 1967 for a church in Lagos, and its production came just after Nigeria’s independence and amid the civil war. Though initially controversial for its Yoruba‑centric depiction of the Bible, the work is now celebrated for its fusion of Christian narrative with local visual culture and its role in the decolonisation of Nigerian art.
See it in person
Jesus is nailed to the cross is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
