The present paper studies the internal decoration of the Museu Paulista, created and implemented by Affonso D'Escagnolle Taunay during his term as a director of that institution, trying to understand the strategies he used to translate his theoretical convictions into a convincing visual language. The author also analyses the relations of Taunay's proposed decorative project with the vast tradition of European decorative cycles and, more specifically, with the projects of the construction of a national identity through painting, which was defended by some artists who had a certain relation with the Fine-Arts Academy during the 19th century.
Museu Paulista; Decorative cycle; Taunay; History of Art