Jesuit Sacred Arts Museum in Embu das Artes: Social Agents and the Local/Global Context of a Collection

• Grant number: 22/01144-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning
• Principal Investigator: Renata Maria de Almeida Martins
• Grantee: Angélica Brito Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06538-9 - Baroque-açu: Portuguese America in the art geography of the global South, AP.JP2

Abstract

The present project aims to analyze the collection belonging to the Museu de Arte Sacra dos Jesuítas, in the municipality of Embu das Artes. The museum is hosted in the church of Our Lady of the Rosary, historical monument placed in São Paulo metropolitan region. The building was constructed in the beginning of the 18th century, in the Jesuit mission of Mboy, subordinate to the College of São Paulo. As for the church's collection, it is formed by objects that date from the 17th to the 20th century, though unexists, to the present moment, a thorough classification and dating effort relating to these pieces.The church was listed as historical heritage in 1938 by recently-created Serviço do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, currently IPHAN, and inscripted as historical and artistic interest. According to SPHAN's advisory council's resolution of August 13th 1984, the listing also includes the church's whole collection. The monument is also protected on state level by CONDEPHAAT, since 1974.In spite of the institutional recognition attained by the listing as national heritage and the frequent mention to the church in important studies about colonial art and architecture, the truth is that little is known about how this collection was formed and produced, both the one integrated to the architecture, such as retables, oratories and ceilings, and the mobile collecion, particularly composed of sculptures in wood and terracotta. For this reason, this project proposes to map this collection, seeking to understand the social relations that permeated its production and the historical agents involved in this process.