Baroque appeared in Brazil a little later, during the 18th century.
The Baroque of Minas Gerais was a peculiar version of the Baroque that developed in Minas Gerais between the 18th and 19th centuries.
Architecture, painting, sacred sculpture and music all featured prominently in the Baroque of Minas Gerais. Evoking religion in every detail, the Baroque of Minas Gerais followed the trend of Baroque art, growing above all around churches and brotherhoods.
The history of Minas Gerais begins with the first bandeiras from São Paulo to explore the territory in the 16th century, but it was at the end of the 17th century onwards, with the discovery of gold deposits and other precious stones, that the first towns began to be created and the territory was occupied, as the bandeirantes and foreigners were attracted by the riches that the place would provide.
At first the town was linked to the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, but as the São Paulo bandeirantes were supposedly the ones who found the gold mines, in 1709 Minas joined the Captaincy of São Paulo, forming the Captaincy of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Only in 1720 did it become autonomous and called the Captaincy of Minas Gerais.
In addition to the first explorers, large numbers of royalty and inhabitants from other areas of the colony also arrived in the captaincy, enchanted by the news of the gold there.
From then on, countless Portuguese, including artists, came from the metropolis to the colony in search of rapid enrichment and brought with them many engravings and illustrated sacred books that would be used as references in colonial paintings.
Thus, the first artists were the Portuguese, who passed on their techniques and references to the Brazilians, who reproduced them in their works.
São Paulo didn’t have such a splendid spread of the Baroque, which leads us to believe that the influence of the movement in Minas Gerais really came from the metropolis. However, we can’t underestimate the Paulistas and other settlers, who certainly brought traces of this art to Minas Gerais, albeit with less representation.
Unlike other schools such as Bahia and Pernambuco, which were much more closely linked to the formal style of European art, the Baroque of Minas Gerais was characterized by diversity and eclecticism.
The Baroque of Minas Gerais did not follow academic standards, prioritizing the use of more uniform colors and more naive and youthful features.
The fact is that with the large contingent of people arriving in the “new” lands, towns such as Sabará, Mariana, Ouro Preto, São João Del Rei and Congonhas do Campo began to develop and form their large buildings, which required an architectural influence, in this case the Baroque.
Briefly, with regard to colonial architecture in Minas Gerais, we can cite Antônio Francisco Lisboa, the Aleijadinho, as the greatest and best-known architect of the Brazilian Baroque.
As he possessed a unique talent, the religious orders, especially the Carmelite and Franciscan, requested his work, and he designed the Church of São Francisco, in the city of Ouro Preto, and Bom Jesus de Matosinho, in Congonhas do Campo.
The sculptor always used medallions and carvings, many of them covered in gold, and it was in the Sanctuary of Matosinho where he did one of his greatest works, the twelve prophets sculpted in such a way that their gestures are coordinated and give the appearance of movement.
It’s worth noting that Baroque architecture and painting have always been linked, as many of the iconographic productions were developed thanks to the large ceilings and walls of the buildings – mainly churches – that needed to be decorated, so the painters came in to do the adornments.
Aleijadinho and the painter Manuel da Costa Ataíde worked on the São Francisco de Assis Church in Ouro Preto.
The important thing to note in the case of colonial baroque painting in Minas Gerais is that the use of European models was common for painters of the time, but they cannot be characterized as mere copyists, devoid of creativity and talent.
Imitation would be defined more as the invention of a different work, but without hiding the model, because often the artist’s appreciation for such a work was so great that he wanted to equal or surpass the initial work.
Perhaps in the Brazilian case the question of why copies were used is a little different, although this first hypothesis need not be ruled out.
Art or literature arriving in the Brazilian colony first had to be evaluated in Portugal, which could censor the work and prevent it from entering America.
Thus, most of what arrived here with Portuguese approval was of a religious nature, such as missals, bibles and other sacred books.
Many of these books were accompanied by illustrations of biblical passages and the most important religious events in the Christian imagination.
As most of the artists from Minas Gerais were financed by clergymen, parishes and brotherhoods, it was up to them to produce works focused on Catholicism using the engravings they had here, taken from religious books – it was better to copy what had already been approved by Portugal than to try to innovate and end up being censored by the colony’s inspectors.
This is perhaps also where the feeling of emulation for the artist on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean comes in, as admiration could lead to the desire to do something similar in order to be equally beautiful.
These factors led the same artist to produce heterogeneous works, since the prints they were inspired by were by different painters.
Manuel da Costa Ataíde, or Master Ataíde, was one of the artists who used other works to compose his productions.
He was born in Mariana around 1762 and little is known about his life.
The great characteristic of his paintings lies in the fact that he made very good use of perspective – columns that seem to advance towards the sky in interaction with angels and saints, for example – in his paintings on the ceilings of churches and also in single works.
The decline of the Baroque did not mean the end of the plastic arts in Minas; from the second half of the 19th century, painting, already divorced from architecture, developed under the influence of European neoclassicism and romanticism.
The greatest expressions of Minas Gerais Baroque were Master Ataíde and Aleijadinho
Biography of Manuel da Costa Ataíde
Master Ataíde was born in Mariana in 1762 and died in 1830 at the age of 68. He was one of the most important painters, gilders and craftsmen in the art of incarnation of the time.
Little is known about Master Ataíde’s life.
His first public work was the embodiment of two icons of Jesus for the Church of Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, in Congonhas do Campo, in 1781.
He was one of the few recognized Minas Gerais painters of the period. He was seen as a human figure, religious, a member of various brotherhoods, a materially detached person who charged fair prices for his works.
Video showing Master Ataíde’s biography
Biography of Aleijadinho
Born in Cachoeira do Campo, a district of Ouro Preto, in the first half of the 18th century, Antônio Francisco Lisboa changed the history of art in Brazil.
Master Aleijadinho, as he became known worldwide due to the disability that afflicted him until his death.
Much of the artistic production of Master Aleijadinho’s workshop is concentrated in the historic city of Ouro Preto.
But Congonhas is home to the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Matosinhos, with the twelve prophets carved in soapstone and the six steps of the Passion of Christ.
Among the icons of the artist’s work is the Church of São Francisco de Assis, which he designed in 1766, and which also has details from his workshop, such as the high altar, the altarpiece, the frontispiece and the fountain-lavabo in the sacristy.
In 1767, his father, the Portuguese architect Manoel Francisco Lisboa, died.
However, as Aleijadinho was not his legitimate son, he was not included in his will.
In 1777, Aleijadinho went to the city of Rio de Janeiro for a judicial process to recognize the paternity of his son, who bears the same name as his grandfather, Manoel Francisco Lisboa, with a slave, just as his mother was when the master was born, called Narciza Rodrigues da Conceição.
That same year, he was diagnosed with a serious illness that deformed his body and limbs, especially his hands.
The artist was given the nickname Aleijadinho because of this illness, which caused him to work on his knees after losing his toes.
Despite his illness, the master craftsman continued to work in his workshop.
In 1800, the artist was working on the soapstone statues of the prophets, located in the churchyard of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, in Congonhas.
The six steps of the Passion of Christ, represented in the chapels in front of the Sanctuary, were also built at this time, also by the workshop of the master Aleijadinho.
The Prophets and the Passion of Christ, in Congonhas, and the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, in Ouro Preto, are recognized as the master craftsman’s greatest works.
Aleijadinho also left for posterity chapels, churches and ornaments in various cities such as Sabará, São João Del Rei, Tiradentes, Caeté, Mariana, Felixlândia, Matosinhos, Barão de Cocais and São Paulo (capital), with pieces today in the Palácio dos Bandeirantes.
See also the complete Biography of Aleijadinho
The masters of the Baroque of Minas Gerais were Antônio Francisco da Costa Lisboa – Aleijadinho and Manoel da Costa Ataíde – Mestre Ataíde.
1. Architecture
The mountainous and irregular geography allowed the Baroque of Minas Gerais to develop a very peculiar architecture.
The terrain full of hills and valleys contributed to an attractive form of urbanization.
The most important religious temples were built at the highest points of each city, so that the beauty of the churches blended with the natural beauty of the region.
The rugged topography made it possible to create scenery that still fascinates those who visit Minas Gerais, the cradle of the Baroque style.
2. Sculpture
The Baroque of Minas Gerais also had its peculiarities in sculpture.
Due to the isolation of the coast, which made it difficult to import Portuguese pieces, the artists opted to use the typical materials of the region such as cedar and soapstone, adapting them to the needs of the works to circumvent some technical and material limitations.
The twelve prophets by the sculptor Aleijadinho, located in the churchyard of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matozinhos in Congonhas, are a synthesis of the richness and complexity of his work: the ensemble is an example of Baroque construction due to the arrangement of the statues, in a well-balanced scenographic composition; considered in isolation, however, the statues have asymmetries characteristic of rococo.
3. Painting
Master Ataíde’s painting is characterized by being unsettling and highly spiritual. It is marked by a contrast between light and dark, intensifying the sensation of depth and featuring techniques such as figures that are disproportionate to the perspective.
It emphasizes the asymmetrical, diagonal composition, which reveals itself in a grandiose, monumental, twisted style, replacing the geometric unity and balance of Renaissance art.
3.1. Symbolism of colors in Baroque art
Colors play a fundamental role in iconography; their function is not just stylistic, but must carry a symbolism linked to the image it portrays.
Ataíde brings colors and images to life.
The colors with which the altars, figures and images are painted are of fundamental importance for understanding the symbols and the theme of the composition. In this way, we can point out the significance of the two colors most used by Ataíde: red and blue.
In Baroque iconography, red is love, charity, adoration of God, fear, protection and ecstasy in the face of the infinite unknown. It is also martyrdom, suffering, royalty and absolute power.
Other meanings are attributed to the symbolism of the colors: “Bright, garish red certainly indicates sexual extroversion, albeit sublimated by sacred motifs. That red is not there just to contrast with the subtlety of the blue […].
It symbolically provides us with the manifesting elements of irrepressed sexuality, as does the blue, the opposing feelings nestled in the decorator’s soul”.
Blue symbolizes obscurity, the supernatural, the unknown and also ecstasy in the face of an extraterrestrial life. With its illusion of infinity, blue induces dreams, piques curiosity and attracts faith.
3.2. Symbolism of gold
Yellow, gold and the sun symbolize the union of God’s soul, the light revealed to the profane, with yellow, gold and the sun being the three degrees of this revelation.
Even though gold is a metal, it is consolidated in the practice of iconography. If the colors are expressed as reflected light, it would bring the symbolism of being the light itself; pure and genuine.
Master Ataíde’s main works
The ceilings are Master Ataíde’s most remarkable legacies.
1. Paintings on the ceilings
1.1 “Ascension of Christ”, in the Matriz de Santo Antônio in Santa Barbara.
The ceiling of the Matriz de Santo Antônio in Santa Barbara was possibly the painter’s first work in the illusionistic genre;
The architectural illusion begins right at the cymatium, where Mestre Ataíde painted two consoles on each side of the church;
A pedestal and a column stand on each of them, which are connected to the central medallion only by a shell;
Other supports are made up of Atlantean figures, false pillars, pulpits, plant forms and rockeries;
The central medallion shows the Ascension of Christ, accompanied by the 12 apostles and the Virgin Mary;
1.2 “Assumption of Our Lady” is one of Master Ataíde’s most famous and well-known works.
This is one of Master Ataíde’s most acclaimed works. The central medallion depicts the glorious Assumption of the Virgin, surrounded by an orchestra of angels of all ages;
Like several angels, Mary has black features and is in an attitude of prayer, seated on a throne of clouds, surrounded by rays of light and leaning on a lunar crescent;
This is a complex composition, very colorful and integrated into the architecture of the church;
1.3 Master Ataíde’s illusionistic work is the ceiling of the Matriz de Santo Antônio.
Master Ataíde’s illusionistic work is the ceiling of the Matriz de Santo Antônio in Ouro Branco. Straight lines predominate. The organization of the space is non-traditional, as is the choice of color palette;
The rich central medallion features a group with the Virgin, the Child Jesus and St. Anthony of Lisbon. Mary, enthroned on clouds, has a delicate, serene and friendly countenance;
Next to her is the Child Jesus, standing on a table in front of a devout St. Anthony;
Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Mariana, two panels share the space of the sacristy ceiling, both depicting the Agony of St. Francis.
There is no document attesting to Mestre Ataíde’s authorship. However, it was attributed to him after analysis by various experts, who compared the stylistics used.
Here, we no longer see illusionistic architecture, but large open scenes with landscape backgrounds, and the painter’s ability to convey meaning through the simple use of colors and the distribution of weights is noticeable.
2. Painting easels
Detail of the “Last Supper”, considered one of Mestre Ataíde’s most important works.
In addition to the ceiling paintings, Mestre Ataíde has a multitude of smaller works on canvas or wood panels;
One of the most noteworthy is The Last Supper, from 1828, considered one of his most important creations.
This is a work that demonstrates the artist’s quality as a creator, as it has various anecdotal details that bring the composition to life;
The canvas also has heterodox aspects, such as the sheep bones on the table, which contradict the strict precepts of Catholicism;
Other works by Ataíde are:
- Scenes from the Life of Abraham and São Francisco reaches the Graces of the Porziuncola (Church of São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto);
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel, The Child Jesus and Saint Simon Stock (present in the Museum of the Inconfidence);
- Flagellation of Christ (collection of the São Paulo State Government Palaces);
- Christ on the Way to Calvary (Mariana Museum of Sacred Art);
- Christ’s Baptism (Mariana Cathedral).
A Ceia de Ataíde – Pintada em 1828, pelo Tenente Manuel da Costa Ataíde (1762-1830), é das mais belas e importantes obras artísticas do Caraça. No centro, o Cristo está aureolado de luz, rodeado pelos doze apóstolos, divididos em grupos de três. Sobre a mesa, revestida com uma toalha rendada, que ainda conserva as dobraduras de quando estava guardada, além do pão e do vinho, servido num cálice de vidro, há um prato com carne de carneiro, o cordeiro pascal. No chão, a bacia e a toalha usadas no Lava-Pés apontam para a excelência do amor e do serviço.
Judas, o traidor, sentado bem à frente, como que pronto para sair da reunião, segura a sacola de dinheiro e ainda contempla todos os visitantes, independente do lugar em que se encontram na Igreja.
Nos cantos do quadro, à esquerda, três personagens: uma jovem servente, carregando pães e sendo acariciada por um homem que vem logo atrás de si, e uma outra mulher, mulata, como sempre Mestre Ataíde faz questão de retratar. Do outro lado, mais duas personagens completam a cena, entrando no recinto festiva e alegremente.
O quadro custou 350$000, segundo os livros contábeis da Casa, e foi pintada a pedido do superior Padre Jerônimo de Macedo.
A identificação de autoria que se pode ver na tela foi feita pelo pintor alemão George Grimm, quando esteve no Caraça; imprimiu na tela a assinatura que o próprio autor não tinha costume de colocar em suas obras.
3. Gilding of wood carvings and painting of statues
In addition to painting ceilings, canvases and wood panels, Mestre Ataíde gilded wood carvings and painted statues using a technique known as incarnation and upholstery;
Incarnation aims to imitate the effect of human flesh on the visible parts of the body (such as the face and hands) and upholstery imitates clothing and fabrics. His works are present in several churches in Minas Gerais;
He also left his mark on various aspects of church decoration and designed the architecture of altarpieces and liturgical objects such as candlesticks and crucifixes;
An example of his work is the Church of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Ouro Preto. It demonstrates how Ataíde saw interior decoration: as a single work, integrating architecture, painting, carving and objects;
In addition to all this, he was an illustrator (painting illuminations in Brotherhood Commitment Books) and painted the most important series of statues by Aleijadinho, installed in the Chapels of the Steps of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos.
