BAROQUE ART IN BRAZIL
From
the late 16th to the late 18th centuries, when Brazil was a
Portuguese colony, painting and sculpture was almost entirely
religious in nature. Fired with zeal for the conversion of the
indigenous peoples of Brazil, Jesuit, Franciscan and Benedictine
missionaries exploited the sensory impact of painting, sculpture,
music and drama to promote the faith there. The opulent, majestic
and theatrical Catholicism that gradually took root appealed to the
imagination and to the senses - as did the Baroque art of
Counter-Reformation Europe.
African
slaves were imported to Brazil to work the sugar crops and goldmines.
To compensate for their slavery, they were promised salvation by the
Catholic Church and many were employed in the building and
decoration of churches. Some of the greatest artists and architects
of the period were of mixed race, such as Antônio Francisco Lisboa
(known as Aleijadinho) (1730-1814).
Antônio
Francisco Lisboa (1730 -
1814), known as Aleijadinho (Portuguese for "Little Cripple"),
is Brazil's greatest artist and architect before modern times.
He was born in Ouro Preto,
the
son of the Portuguese craftsman Manuel Francisco Lisboa and a black
slave.
In
the 1770's Aleijadinho began to suffer from a debilitating,
crippling disease, which grew progressively worse. It could have
been syphillis or leprosy. He eventually lost his fingers and toes,
and the use of his lower legs. Despite his physical
disabilities, he was a prolific and exceptionally talented artist
who created Brazil's best baroque art, known as "Barroco
Mineiro" -
a distinctive art form that developed in Minas Gerais in the 18th
century.
Aleijadinho
travelled only once outside his native Minas Gerais, when he went to
Rio de Janeiro, some 500 Km from his home town. Through
pictures and books, this increditbly talented self-taught artist
incorporated the European Baroque and Rococo traditions into his own
work, with hints of the classic and gothic. He used only native
materials, like soapstone and wood, in his work. His art, as
historians have pointed out, is characterized by syncretism and
fusion, which created an essentially Brazilian style.
His
masterpieces are the Church of São Francisco de Assis (built in
1766) in Ouro Preto; the Church of São Francisco de Assis (1774) in
São João del Rei; and the majestic statues of the Twelve Prophets
(1800-1805), which are symmetrically arranged on the steps and
terraces leading up to the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Matozinho in
Congonhas do Campo.
The
two baroque churches of São Francisco are characterized by a
remarkable feeling of balance, serenity, harmony. On the
other hand, his Twelve Prophets - the work of his mature years -
have a gothic and expressionistic feel about them. By the time the
artist started working on the statues of the prophets, his health
had deteriorated considerably, and he was in constant pain caused by
his crippling disease.
In
1985, the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Matozinho, the Twelve Prophets,
and the wooden scupltures housed in the seven chapels in the gardens
of the Sanctuary became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is how
UNESCO describes the Sanctuary:
"It
consists of a church with a magnificent Rococo interior of Italian
inspiration; an outdoor stairway decorated with statues of the
prophets; and seven chapels illustrating the Sations of the Cross,
in which the polychrome sculptures by Aleijadinho are masterpieces
of a highly original, moving, expressive form of Baroque art."