Beyond the Noble Hall: the diffusion of the painting "Independência or Morte", by Pedro Américo

• Grant number: 19/23740-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2019
• End date: January 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Museology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo César Garcez Marins
• Grantee: Giovanna Salatine de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Museu Paulista (MP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/07366-1 - Collect, identify, describe, exhibit: the curatorial cycle and the production of knowledge, AP.TEM

Abstract

The painting "Independence or Death", made by Pedro Américo de Figueiredo and Mello between 1886 and 1888, was made to occupy the Noble Hall of the Independence Monument building, later converted into Paulista Museum. The work has been exhibited in this place since the museum was opened to the public in 1895, however the impact of its visual discourse is not restricted to the experience of its enjoyment in this museum space. This representation is part of the collective imagination about the 7th of September 1822 thanks to the wide diffusion of his image in printed materials. The research proposal of scientific initiation is to raise and understand the profile of these printed forms of circulation and the appropriation of "Independence or Death", identifying materials in which the canvas was reproduced and the narratives associated with it in order to broaden and renew the understanding of this work; contribute to the reformulation of the Paulista Museum exhibition. The research will analyze the circulation and the appropriation of the painting after its musealization, in 1895 until the Centennial of 1922. To this end, reproductions of the screen will be identified in periodicals, illustrated magazines and teaching materials, with special attention to the year 1922, the year in which the centenary of Brazil's independence was celebrated. From this survey, will be examining the narratives associated with the screen in order to understand their appropriations. (AU)