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The Pensive Christ is a folk art sculpture of Christ sitting on a pedestal, bent over, usually with his right hand on his head and his left hand on his knee, with a crown of thorns on his head, drops of blood on his face and body, and a face full of sorrow. It is one of the most popular objects of Lithuanian fine art and folk art, one of the symbols of the Lithuanian nation. Juozas Mikėnas is one of the most famous Lithuanian sculptors and a pioneer of modern sculpture in Lithuania. The choice of the Pensive Christ for the main exhibit of the Lithuanian pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition was influenced by the political and cultural situation of the 1930s. Although there were controversial assessments in the press at the time, the Pensive Christ by sculptor Juozas Mikėnas marks the entire inter-war era of independent Lithuanian culture and remains one of the most important works of the sculptor's art.