Fabrics, clothing and accessories in the watercolors of Carlos Julião (18th century): a study for rescuing the memory of black women in Brazil

• Grant number: 24/10727-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Renata Maria de Almeida Martins
• Grantee: Júlia Myanaki Cardoso
• 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

This Scientific Initiation (IC) project aims to study the work of painter Carlos Julião, focusing particularly on the watercolors he produced during his time in Brazil in the second half of the 18th century. The richness of detail in his paintings includes representations of clothing, fabric patterns, and accessories, with women, especially Black women, appearing as central figures in this body of work. These women and their attire will thus be the focus of this investigation. In Julião's work, the depiction of individuals stands out in the way it highlights their social status, which is conveyed through representative elements of the group to which they belong. In this sense, there is an intrinsic relationship between clothing, identity, and the preservation of memory through figurative representation - a relationship that this study seeks to explore. Furthermore, the project will discuss the correspondence between the images and what might have been the reality of the time, as suggested by other contemporary or later documents, especially considering the cultural distance of the painter from the figures he portrayed. This proposal, which includes the development of a catalog of reproductions of fabric patterns and details of clothing and accessories in watercolors created by the researcher, aims to contribute to the documentation of aspects of materiality and the global circulation of images and objects. It also seeks to expand knowledge about the history of African women in colonial Brazil, thereby directly supporting the objectives of the Fapesp Young Researcher Phase 2 Project, Barroco-Açu. The Portuguese America in the Artistic Geography of the Global South (process no. 2021/06538-9).