{"id":245772,"date":"2017-08-29T15:33:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T18:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=245772\/"},"modified":"2017-08-29T15:43:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T18:43:05","slug":"the-rebirth-of-sao-paulos-baroque-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/the-rebirth-of-sao-paulos-baroque-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"The rebirth of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s baroque tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

L\u00c9O RAMOS CHAVES<\/span><\/a> Igreja do Carmo, in S\u00e3o Paulo: painting by Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo in the nave …L\u00c9O RAMOS CHAVES<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

A joint effort by academic researchers, professional art restorers and experts from the public sector and companies has resulted in the discovery of works of art, artists and documents from the S\u00e3o Paulo baroque era that have remain hidden, unknown or stored away for more than a century.\u00a0 The original drawings, shapes and colors are emerging as churches are being restored and more recent paintings removed, revealing works of greater artistic and historical value.\u00a0 The findings are redefining the value of S\u00e3o Paulo expressions of this art style, which is more visible in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro where it flourishes. Characterized by elaborate shapes and keen religiosity, baroque art shaped the first three centuries of Brazil\u2019s colonization by the Europeans.<\/p>\n

In 2011, as a result of a project begun by the National Institute for Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), paintings dating back to 1796 and 1797, by Santos priest Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo (1764-1819) have reappeared on the ceilings of the chancel and nave of the Igreja da Vener\u00e1vel Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Carmo [Church of the Venerable Third Order of Our Lady of Carmel], in the city center of S\u00e3o Paulo. Shortly before his death, S\u00e3o Paulo writer M\u00e1rio de Andrade (1893-1945) notified authorities of the probable existence of the painting in the church\u2019s central nave, which had been painted over.\u00a0 Now exposed, the original image depicts the Blessed Mother surrounded by angels, clouds, and along the edge of the ceiling, 2.20 meter (m) tall Carmelites. M\u00e1rio de Andrade never knew why the original painting had been concealed.<\/p>\n

Art historian Danielle Pereira, a researcher in the Barroco Mem\u00f3ria Viva<\/em> [Baroque Living Memory] group of the Art Institute of S\u00e3o Paulo State University (Unesp) in S\u00e3o Paulo, believes she has discovered what the S\u00e3o Paulo writer did not know.\u00a0 For the past seven years, she has been engaged in a pilgrimage through the archives of churches and public agencies, examining nearly 22,000 pages of 600 old books to find unpublished documents about the paintings and their artists. From these documents, she was able to confirm that the work by Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo was not the original, but rather the third\u2014the ceilings containing the two previous works by artists would have been removed\u2014and she found the reason behind the exchange in paintings, a fact that had puzzled M\u00e1rio de Andrade. \u201cThe Carmelites changed the d\u00e9cor of the entire church to suit the tastes of the time and not fall behind the other religious orders, no matter the cost,\u201d Pereira said. \u201cThe idea that S\u00e3o Paulo baroque was worthless and artless is misplaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

L\u00c9O RAMOS CHAVES<\/span><\/a> …and the Crucified Christ, both from the 18th centuryL\u00c9O RAMOS CHAVES<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Artist and art historian Percival Tirapeli, author of 20 books on Brazilian art and coordinator of the Unesp art research group, looks up at the ceiling of the Igreja do Carmo and says: \u201cWe spent four years using a scalpel to remove recent layers of paint.\u201d Behind the altar stands the 1746 wood sculpture of unknown authorship entitled Senhor morto<\/em> [Dead Lord], which has also been restored, and which Tirapelo considers \u201cone of the most beautiful sculptures in S\u00e3o Paulo baroque art.\u201d Nearly 30 kilometers (km) away from the city center, at the Capela de S\u00e3o Miguel Arcanjo [Saint Michael the Archangel Chapel], one of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s oldest, erected in 1622, the group found a rare perspective painting of the altar that had been hidden for decades by another wooden altar, built nearly 150 years later.<\/p>\n

Unexpected works of art also emerged at the mother church of Nossa Senhora da Candel\u00e1ria [Our lady of Candel\u00e1ria] in the city of Itu, 101 km from the capital, the largest baroque church in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo. It was built in 1780 and has been undergoing restoration since 2001. Upon the recommendation of musician Lu\u00eds Roberto de Francisco, a researcher at the city\u2019s Museum of Music, the restoration teams salvaged six planks of wood, depicting one of the scenes of the Christ\u2019s passion.\u00a0 Covered by a layer of lime, they probably held the original ceiling paintings of the church that had been used to protect a clock tower.\u00a0 They were done by Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo\u2014and no one knew about them.<\/p>\n

In 2015, the restoration teams found paintings in blue on the walls of the chancel of the mother church in Itu, previously covered by decades of paint.\u00a0 There was a date, 1788, and a signature that this time revealed unknown artist Mathias Teixeira da Silva, about whom little was known.\u00a0 Research into this artist, conducted by Iphan historian Carlos Gutierrez Cerqueira, has led to the identification of sculptor Bartolomeu Teixeira Guimar\u00e3es (1738-?) as the artist behind the monumental altar, measuring 12 m in height by 6 m in width.\u00a0 Emerging as well were signs of collaboration between Guimar\u00e3es and Jos\u00e9 Patr\u00edcio da Silva Manso (1753-1801), the artist of the painting on the ceiling and teacher of Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo, pointing to connections between the artists and their works.\u00a0 Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo did paintings found in three other churches in Itu: Igreja do Carmo, Nossa Senhora do Patroc\u00ednio [Our Lady of Patronage] and Igreja do Bom Jesus [Church of the Good Shepherd].<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Revitalized ideas<\/strong>
\n\u201cWe\u2019re doing away with the preconceived notion that S\u00e3o Paulo baroque was worthless and unimpressive,\u201d says restorer J\u00falio Moraes, owner of a restoration company.\u00a0 He began working on S\u00e3o Paulo baroque in 1990, when he restored the 1681 chapel from a site in S\u00e3o Roque, not far from the capital, bequeathed to Iphan by M\u00e1rio de Andrade. \u201cThere are actually many more artists and works of art than previously thought,\u201d he adds, confirming the predictions he had received from his art professors at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) in the mid-1970s. In 2001, Moraes and his team restored the ceiling painting of the chancel in the Igreja da Candel\u00e1ria in Itu, where he returned in 2014 to care for other works of art.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis entrance was painted entirely gray,\u201d Tirapelo says as he enters the church of the Ordem Terceira de S\u00e3o Francisco [Third Order of Saint Francis], on Largo do S\u00e3o Francisco, in the capital, built between 1676 and 1787. \u201cEverything was falling apart.\u201d Closed for many years, the church was largely restored using funds from companies under what is known as Brazil\u2019s Rouanet Law (intended to encourage investments to help finance cultural projects) and the Council for the Defense of the Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Touristic Heritage (Condephaat). Visitors today can see the doors painted in bright colors and the altar, completed 1792, sparkling with a gilding \u201cunlike anything ever seen in Brazil,\u201d he says.\u00a0 The walls of the chancel display 10 exquisite religious paintings from the first half of the 18th<\/sup> century, 2.2 m in height, that were covered by blackish residue until a few years ago.\u00a0 According to him, these paintings were done in Portuguese studios and \u201cattest to the Italian influence in Brazilian baroque,\u201d in addition to hinting at the Church\u2019s buying power.<\/p>\n

Pereira identified 56 painters who worked in churches in S\u00e3o Paulo, Itu and Mogi das Cruzes between 1750 and 1827. As a result, the most well-known S\u00e3o Paulo artists\u2014Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo and Jos\u00e9 Patr\u00edcio da Silva Manso\u2014are joined by others such as Louren\u00e7o da Costa de Macedo, Antonio dos Santos and Manuel do Sacramento, who painted the ceilings of the vestibule, the chancel and the nave of the Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo [Church of the Third Order of Carmel] in Mogi das Cruzes, as described in an article published in the journal Caiana<\/em> from the Argentine Center for Art Investigators in 2016.\u00a0 Pereira also identified a rare female painter, Miquelina Const\u00e2ncia das Chagas, who in the 19th<\/sup> century gilded the six altars of the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de S\u00e3o Francisco [Church of the Third Order of Saint Francis], in S\u00e3o Paulo. While our understanding of the artworks and professional trajectories of the baroque artists is growing, their personal details such as dates of birth and death, are still vague.<\/p>\n

\"\"

l\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/a> At the church of the Ordem Terceira de S\u00e3o Francisco, in S\u00e3o Paulo, the 1792 altar returned to its original glory after restorationl\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In another study by the group from Unesp, architect Rafael Schunk recovered two little-known artists: the Portuguese priest Agostinho da Piedade (1580-1661) and his student Agostinho de Jesus (1600-1661), who lived and worked in the Para\u00edba Valley. Schunk considers Agostinho de Jesus \u201cthe first Brazilian artist.\u201d It was after him that came the other, more well-known, Brazilian baroque artists: Ant\u00f4nio Francisco Lisboa (1738-1814)\u2014aka Aleijadinho\u2014and Manuel da Costa Ata\u00edde (1762-1830), in Minas Gerais, and Valentim da Fonseca e Silva (1745-1813), in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

Art historian Maria Jos\u00e9 Passos, a professor at Cruzeiro do Sul University (Unicsul), identified more baroque works than she expected to find as she visited 79 churches in 47 cities throughout the state of S\u00e3o Paulo as part of her doctoral studies, completed at Unesp in 2015 (see map<\/em><\/a>). Some 10 religious sculptures at least 200 years old had been stored with no identification in closets, sacristies or warehouses.\u00a0 Others got lost. \u201cMost of the pieces are not properly catalogued,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Passos became intrigued every time she saw sculptures with glass eyes that were unlike others in the collections, especially in the Para\u00edba Valley, although they were still considered baroque. Unesp researcher and restorer Cristiana Cavaterra provided the answer: many of these works had been done by Italian artist Marino Del Favero (1864-1943). Favero moved to Brazil at age 28 and opened a studio for sacred sculpture and altars in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s city center. He advertised his work in newspapers, listed them for sale in catalogues and took orders from S\u00e3o Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul, pushing a portion of baroque into the early 20th<\/sup> century. Art historians claim that baroque art formally ended with The Last Supper<\/em>, painted by Costa Ata\u00edde at Col\u00e9gio do Cara\u00e7a, in Minas Gerais, in 1828.<\/p>\n

\"\"

l\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/a> Art restorer Ana Cristina Jacinto recovers the sculpture of S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o Evangelista [Saint John the Evangelist] at the church of Candel\u00e1ria em Itul\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>It is estimated that over 50 years, the Italian artist produced some 300 altars such as those of the mother church of Pindamonhangaba and a chapel in S\u00e3o Luiz do Paraitinga, both in S\u00e3o Paulo State, and in a church in Maria da F\u00e9, in Minas Gerais, in addition to nearly a thousand sculptures of varying sizes. \u201cEven with production on an industrial scale, he considered himself an artist and ensured the quality of what he produced with his team,\u201d says Cavaterra. \u201cHis personal taste and the influence of the Italian masters took precedence in his work.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recent studies and discoveries indicate that S\u00e3o Paulo produced fewer works of art than states such as Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro or Bahia.\u00a0 The walls of the churches in the capital and inland S\u00e3o Paulo were mainly made of stucco, with minimalist d\u00e9cor while in other states they were of stone and richly adorned. \u201cThe white walls stand in contrast to a colorful altar,\u201d Moraes says. \u201cIt was not possible to cover everything in gold, but they sometimes used silver, which came from Bol\u00edvia, like in Itu.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

l\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/a> The altar, ceiling and walls of the main chapel of the Candel\u00e1ria have been restored…l\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

As cities in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2014especially the capital\u2014began to grow at a faster rate from the 19th<\/sup> century on, baroque art differed markedly from the urban landscape in the eyes of artist Emanoel Ara\u00fajo, director of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Afro-Brazil Museum: \u201cThere is a spartan side to S\u00e3o Paulo.\u201d As director of the Pinacoteca of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo from1992 to 2002, he promoted exhibitions that expanded the visibility of Brazilian baroque art.\u00a0 In 1998, Ara\u00fajo curated the exhibit O universo m\u00e1gico do barroco brasileiro<\/em> [The Magical Universe of Brazilian Baroque], displaying 364 pieces from 1640 to 1820 at the FIESP Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Tirapeli, the exhibitions and the publication of books on baroque art (see <\/em>Pesquisa FAPESP Issue n\u00ba 90<\/em><\/a>) in recent years have renewed interest on the part of experts and public agencies for the need for artistic restoration of works of art from Brazil\u2019s colonial period.\u00a0 As a result of this mobilization, 10 churches in the state have been restored to their original colors and luster, such as the mother church of Itu, the churches of Ordem Terceira do Carmo, Saint Francis, the Boa Morte [Good Death] and Santo Ant\u00f4nio [Saint Anthony] in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo; the church of Candel\u00e1ria, in Itu; the ancient basilica of Nossa Senhora da Aparecida [Our Lady of Aparecida] in Aparecida; and the mother church of Jacare\u00ed.<\/p>\n

\"\"

l\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/a> …but work on the arched entrance continuesl\u00e9o ramos chaves<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMuch was lost while S\u00e3o Paulo baroque was less valued,\u201d says art historian Mozart Costa, a professor of artistic restoration at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-SP) and the City University of S\u00e3o Paulo. Cerqueira, of Iphan, had read reports about 45 rural S\u00e3o Paulo chapels from the 17th<\/sup> century and went looking for them, but found only two. \u201cThe time has come to invest as heavily in the restoration of works of art as Iphan has been investing in restoring the architecture of the churches for 80 years,\u201d he says. \u201cThere is still so much to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there is renewed interest in S\u00e3o Paulo baroque, investment is lacking.\u00a0 On the walls of one corridor of the church of the Ordem Terceira do Carmo are 19 paintings by Jesu\u00edno do Monte Carmelo that are nearly covered by black residue. It would cost nearly R$50,000 each to restore them and since there is no money, no date has been set to begin such work.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nAuthors of illusionist paintings of the State of S\u00e3o Paulo: S\u00e3o Paulo, Itu and Mogi das Cruzes (n\u00ba 13\/04082-1<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Doctoral grant; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Percival Tirapeli (Unesp); Grant Recipient<\/strong> Danielle Manoel dos Santos Pereira; Investment<\/strong> R$ 168,710.49.<\/p>\n

Scientific article<\/em>
\nPEREIRA, D. M. S. Pintura setecentista na igreja da Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Carmo em Mogi das Cruzes (SP-Brasil)<\/a>. Caiana\u2014Revista Virtual de Historia del Arte y Cultura Visual<\/strong>. V. 8, No.1, p. 105-20, 2016.<\/p>\n

Book
\nTIRAPELI, P. Arquitetura e urbanismo no Vale do Para\u00edba<\/strong>. S\u00e3o Paulo: Editora Unesp\/Sesc, 2014. 250 p.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Recovery of artwork expands our understanding of S\u00e3o Paulo baroque","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[241,204],"coauthors":[5968],"class_list":["post-245772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanities","tag-history","tag-visual-arts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245772"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=245772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}