Brazilian Sculpture - 19th Century

19th Century

After the arrival of King John VI of Portugal and his court in 1808, a group of French refugees known as the French Artistic Mission proposed, in 1816, the creation of an Academy of Arts on the model of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris. The Brazilian Academy, called the Royal School of Sciences, Arts and Crafts, later restructured as the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, dominated Brazilian art for more than 100 years. The Academy merged, following further restructuring, with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1931.

During the 19th century, Brazilian sculpture declined severely. Religious tradition, until then the greatest source of inspiration, was displaced by secular concerns, and only a few important artists were active, all of them working within the academic circle, displaying a mixed blend of styles: Neoclassical, Romantic, and Realist. The only great name in this impoverished period was Rodolpho Bernardelli, but others deserve mention: Marc Ferrez, Honorato Manoel de Lima, Francisco Elídio Pânfiro and Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro. Cândido Caetano de Almeida Reis and Décio Villares, both noteworthy talents, left some fine pieces.