Jesus meets his mother
- Artist: Bruce Onobrakpeya
- Date: 1969
- Medium: Linocut on paper
- Dimensions: image: 249 x 603 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Jesus meets his mother” by Bruce Onobrakpeya. It’s one of fourteen linocuts that make up his 1969 series, “The Fourteen Stations of the Cross.” Each print follows a different moment in Jesus’ final days, but Onobrakpeya transposes the scenes onto an African landscape. Apostles wear brightly patterned Adire fabrics, and the men restraining Jesus look like colonial‑era police. The palette is mostly blue and green with flashes of yellow and orange, while sharp geometric shapes echo Nigerian textiles and architecture.
The work sits at the crossroads of faith and culture. Created just after Nigeria’s independence and during the Biafran War, it reflects Onobrakpeya’s desire to fuse Christian narrative with Yoruba visual traditions, challenging colonial visual norms. The series remains a powerful example of how a single artist can re‑imagine a universal story through a local lens.
See it in person
Jesus meets his mother 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.
