The Head of Christ
Bust by Gutzon Borglum, one of the sculptors of Mount Rushmore
This bust of Christ’s head was created by Gutzon Borglum, the artist who created Mount Rushmore. It was given to Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1942 by the Danish American Women’s Association. Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized on April 21, 1895, in a home in Brooklyn, New York, by 14 Danish Christians. A year later, the church was accepted as a member of the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Gutzon Borglum was born in a Mormon community in what is now Idaho. He worked as a woodcarver and sculptor, and made several major monuments, most famously Mount Rushmore. Borglum, who believed Europeans were superior to Native Americans, selected a sacred mountain called “the Six Grandfathers” for the site. He convinced Doane Robinson that Lakota leaders should be excluded from the monument.
The Head of Christ
USA
Before 1942
Stone
Gift of Metropolitan New York Synod
2012.017.001
Altar Painting
This painting was originally created for a Danish Lutheran Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. The congregation broke up around 1883, and the painting was then sold to Trinity Lutheran Church of Chicago. The artist was Johann Peter Raadsig, a Danish painter who studied in Rome and Munich.
