Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus
- Artist: Bruce Onobrakpeya
- Date: 1969
- Medium: Linocut on paper
- Dimensions: image: 245 x 590 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus” by Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya, a linocut on paper from 1969. It sits in a series of fourteen prints that re‑frame the biblical Stations of the Cross within an African context. The composition is elongated and landscape‑oriented, a choice that lets the viewer follow the narrative across the page.
Onobrakpeya places the apostles in richly patterned Adire cloth, while those restraining Jesus wear colonial‑era police uniforms, blending the familiar with the familiar to a West‑African audience. The colour palette stays mostly blue and green, with touches of yellow and orange that highlight the figures. Geometric motifs echo traditional Nigerian textiles and architecture, and the crosses appear in both foreground and background, giving each panel a rhythmic structure.
The print is a powerful reminder of Onobrakpeya’s late‑colonial experience and his effort to blend Christian imagery with local artistic traditions. His work helped spark a movement to decolonise art education in Nigeria, and the series remains a striking example of how cultural identity can reinterpret universal stories.
See it in person
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus 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.
