the first stone of the statue was laid in 1922, six million stone tiles and nine years later, the statue was inaugurated in 1931, in front of a grand crowd, which included the cardinal dom sebastião leme, many exponents of the provisional government of getúlio vargas, and a variety of other important brazilian and international guests.

the lighting-up of the statue, during its inauguration, was due to be initiated in the bay of naples (italy), on the yacht of italian scientist, guglielmo marconi.