From clay to bronze, from sculptor to foundryman: the emergence, consolidation and decline of artistic casting in Brazil (1850-1950)

• Grant number: 25/00019-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Paulo César Garcez Marins
• Grantee: Rafael Dias Scarelli
• Host Institution: Museu Paulista (MP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project seeks to examine the cycle of emergence, consolidation and decline of artistic casting in Brazil between the 1850s and 1950s. In this way, on the one hand, we will look at the work of the first local foundry companies, which were not specialized and whose workshops were intended for the manufacture or repair of other products, such as the Estrada de Ferro Pedro II in Rio de Janeiro. On the other hand, we will also analyze the emergence of those companies whose names already announced their specialized nature in the artistic field, such as Pedro Vaz Ferreira's "Artística Fundição" in São Paulo. We will also seek to shed light on the trajectory of the sculptors who became involved in the world of casting, either by working as foundrymen themselves, like the Italian-Brazilian Amedeo Zani, or by simply setting up a workshop and hiring specialized foundrymen to run it, as the Sicilian Ettore Ximenes would do in São Paulo. Our hypothesis is that foundrymen were key players in the development of sculpture in Brazil, as they provided local sculptors - Brazilians and foreigners working in the country - with the conditions to complete their projects, given the difficulties inherent in sending plaster casts across the Atlantic to be cast in bronze in Europe. As expected results for this research, we intend to produce a historical-biographical dictionary on the artistic foundrymen who worked in Brazil during the period mentioned. We also intend to update the Museu Paulista's database with regard to the identified companies that cast the artworks preserved in their collections in São Paulo and Itu. Furthermore, we aim to produce articles focusing on companies operating in the field, such as Fundição Cavina and Fundição Angeli.