Four paintings of the phases of brazilian History in Museu Paulista: identities in question

• Grant number: 24/05395-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Museology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo César Garcez Marins
• Grantee: Elisa Ferreira Rocha Campos
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research Project's theme is the study of the process of conception, production and propagation of the works of art called Ciclo dos Criadores de Gado, by Baptista da Costa, Tomada de Posse da Amazônia, by Fernandes Machado, Ciclo do Ouro, by Rodolpho Amoedo and Ciclo da Caça ao Índio, by Henrique Bernadelli. Such paintings constitute a set which represent the "capital phases of Brazilian History", commissioned between the years of 1921 and 1923 for the decorative program of the central axis of the Museu Paulista, under the direction of Afonso Taunay. The works are part of a process of artistic commissions for the decoration of the museum focused of the representation of historic characters and events with the intention of offering a visual narrative about the national past. Several authors point out that such decorative program followed the interests of the paulista elites, associating the economic and political hegemony that the state of São Paulo took on in the national context since the end of the nineteenth century to the construction of a heroic past narrative with Paulista protagonism. The Museu Paulista, specially under the direction of Afonso Taunay, was the main formulator of such visual narrative of Brazil's history with paulista protagonism, in which the bandeirante character, elevated to the category of national hero, was of the pillars. The goal of this research is, through document research and analysis, to clarify the process of commission and production of the four paintings set, in order to expand the knowledge of the relations between the painters and the museum director, and analyze the social, regional and racial dynamics represented in the paintings, given that the museum, since its re-opening to the public in 2022, is going through a moment its narratives of the bandeirante character are questioned and deconstructed before the public.