Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Gaze game: Indians and Africans in the 19th Century sculpture between France and Brazil

Abstracts

The paper examines the sculptural production of the French artist Louis Rochet made after his stay in Brazil, in 1856, to develop the project of the equestrian statue of the Emperor d. Pedro I, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, the research studies the creation of the indigenous figures of the allegories of the pedestal of the statue and the buste Négre, Horace, that perpetuates in sculpture the slave's face that was designated to accompany the French artist during his stay in Brazil. The analysis explores the biography of this art pieces to interrogate how the ethnic representation of Blacks and Indians was participated at the art world in France and in Brazil, taking into account the discussions and different artistic programs.

History of Brazil; History of Art; Art in Brazil; Sculpture -Louis Rochet


O texto estuda a produção escultórica do artista francês Louis Rochet realizada a partir de sua estada no Brasil, em 1856, para desenvolver o projeto da estátua equestre do imperador d. Pedro I, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Assim, a pesquisa estuda a criação das figuras indígenas das alegorias do pedestal da estátua e o busto do Negro, Horácio, que eterniza na escultura o rosto do escravo que foi designado para acompanhar o artista francês durante sua estada no Brasil. A análise explora a biografia destas obras de arte para interrogar como a representação étnica de negros e índios participou do mundo da arte na França e no Brasil, atendendo a debates e programas artísticos distintos.

História do Brasil; História da Arte; Arte no Brasil; Escultura-Louis Rochet


DOSSIÊ- DESLOCAMENTOS CULTURAIS

Gaze game: Indians and Africans in the 19th Century sculpture between France and Brazil

Paul Knauss

Professor of the History Department of the Universidade Federal Fluminense, General Director of the Arquivo Público of the State of Rio de Janeiro and President of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Rio de Janeiro

ABSTRACT

The text examines the sculptural production of French artist Louis Rochet, created after his trip to Brazil, in 1856, to plan the project of the equestrian statue of the Emperor Dom Pedro I, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This research therefore studies the creation of indigenous figures of the allegories of the statue, and the bust of Negro, Horácio, which eternalizes, in sculptural form, the face of the slave who was appointed to accompany the French artist during his time in Brazil. The analysis explores the biography of these works of art, questioning how the ethnic representation of Africans and Indians participated in the world of art in France and Brazil, taking into account the discussions and the different artistic programs.

Keywords: History of Brazil; History of Art; Art in Brazil; Sculptor-Louis Rochet

The Indian in the art exhibition

In 1856, during his visit to Rio de Janeiro to prepare the project for the execution of the statue of the Emperor Dom Pedro I, the French sculptor Louis Rochet devoted himself to preparatory studies for its artistic creation.1 1 Folhinha Laemmert, of 8 July 1856, states that: "Mr. Luis Rochet, person responsible for raising the equestrian statue that will be erected in the court of the founder of the Empire, arrived from Europe on the steamship the Cadiz." Cited in: FERREZ, Gilberto. A obra de Eduardo Laemmert. Revista do IHGB . Rio de Janeiro: v. 331, 1981, p. 204. [I thank Maria Isabel Lenzi for this indication.] From these studies, twelve colored models of the busts of Indians from Brazil survive today, and are housed at the Musée de L'Homme, in Paris. These polychromic images, without doubt, were used to develop the faces of the allegorical figures on the pedestal of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I. The addition of clothing and the composition, with body in expressive movement, accompanied by elements of the regional fauna, does not allow immediate recognition of the similarity between the work carried out and the pieces of the study, but their connection is very clear.2 2 It should be noted that this combination of native elements and fauna would be taken up again in French sculpture, in the work of Ernest Barrias, Les Nubiens or Chasseurs d'alligators, dated 1894, currently housed in the Museum d'Orsay, in Paris, France.

After returning to France, in 1856, and even before the public sculpture was inaugurated in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in 1862, Louis Rochet prepared the pieces that would comprise the sculptural assembly to be erected in Rio before its inauguration. Thus, the French sculptor was tasked with publicizing his creation, exhibiting the equestrian statue and the sides of the bronze pedestal. Thus, at the French art exhibition of 1861, in Paris, the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I occupied the center of the garden dedicated to the sculpture at the Palais de l'Industrie, where the allegories of the pedestal were also exhibited (DU CAMP, 1861, p. 173).

At this exhibition in 1861, Brazil did not only mark its presence with the statue of the emperor. At this same Paris exhibition was the large historical painting A Primeira Missa do Brasil, by Victor Meirelles, which marks the history of Brazilian art up to the modern day. In the field of painting, Francois Auguste Biard, who was in Brazil after Rochet, between 1858 and 1859, crossing the country as far as the Amazon, also exhibited some paintings depicting Indians, Negros and virgin rainforest, as well as a portrait of the emperor Dom Pedro II, son and heir of the emperor represented in the statue by Louis Rochet and displayed in the sculpture section (CHRISTO, 2012).

Despite its importance to art in Brazil, the exhibition of 1861 is not an artistic exhibition of great prominence in the history of European art, although more than four thousand pieces were exhibited. The progressive expansion of that French institution of arts led it to organize the exhibition by galleries dedicated to each of the artistic genres, and by alphabetical order of the artists. The statues were placed in the garden. It was a period when painting was still the focus of attention and appreciation of the public, as it was the main reference for the arts. The canvases of Gustave Courbet and Jean-Francois Millet were highlighted, among others, marking the affirmation of the taste for realism in the arts. In addition, the paintings of Puvis de Chavannes and Cabanel, with their themes from classical mythology, continued to attract much attention. Sculpture was not the main focus of appreciation; even so, it is possible to see its trends and directions during the period of the 1861 exhibition (DU CAMP, 1861).

Among the 500 works of sculpture featured in that exhibition, Louis Rochet's statue of the Brazilian emperor gained a prominent position on the exhibition circuit, yet did not become an object of high esteem in the attention of the critics. One reason, perhaps, is that the piece was placed too far away, as Maxime du Camp suggested, preventing it from being judged with a more detailed look (DU CAMP, 1861, p. 174). We must not forget, however, that there were many pieces in the exhibition, so Rochet's sculpture was certainly subsumed by the many works of art surrounding it. On the other hand, in the Second French Empire, the image of an emperor, albeit a tropical one, could not be ignored, a fact that may have justified his privileged position on the visitor circuit. In any case, the criticism highlighted the presence of the work due to its monumentality. Those who did not consider the project beautiful took care to relativize their judgment, because, ultimately, a monumental sculpture must be assessed in the context in which it is situated, and which was unknown to the critics of European art.3 3 Critical Judgment of the project of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I can be seen, for example, in: BÜRGER, W. Salons de W. Bürger, de 1861 à 1868. Organization by Théophile Thoré & Marius Chaumelin. Paris: Jules Renouard, 1870. t. I. p. 159. Théophile Gautier defined the work as "a large sculpture of exportation" (GAUTIER, 1861, p. 415).

Nevertheless, at the French art exhibition of 1861, beside the equestrian statue of the emperor, the allegories of the pedestal were also presented, with the Indians as their central figures. These pieces attracted the attention of some critics more than the tropical creation of Louis Rochet. The interest aroused is certainly due to the fact that in a French art exhibition, the presentation of sculpted figures of Indians from Brazil, accompanied by figures depicting elements of South-American fauna, was uncommon. Exotic Animals, such as the great anteater, the alligator and the capybara, certainly piqued the curiosity of the Parisian visitors. Despite this exceptionality, the carved figures of the Brazilian Indians were an integral part of the debate on the trends of ethnographic sculpture that had been affirmed as part of the artistic taste in France at the time. The indigenous images created by Louis Rochet appeared beside other works of ethnic representation in sculpture, which was highlighted by the art critics of the time (LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, 1994).

In L'Artiste, Francis Aubert emphasized that Rochet was the first to sculpt the image of savages, highlighting the fact that he had produced the representation of the figures very well, despite the lack of tradition of their treatment in European sculpture. According to the French critic, Rochet had managed to convey the strength and uncultured intelligence of the savages, emphasizing, however, that in his figures, a firm dignity prevailed, mixed with the melancholy that is peculiar to the ethnicity represented and, finally, concluded: "ils sont vrais, et pourtant ils sont beaux" (they are true, and above all they are beautiful) (LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, 1994, p. 41). The link is evident between truth and beauty that surrounds the whole debate and judgment on the creation of the ethnographic sculpture of which Rochet's work forms a part, and which is part of the discussion on the relationships between science and art of that context in the history of sculpture.

Meanwhile, in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, the critic León Lagrange compared Rochet's creation with the work of Cordier and Leboeuf, two sculptors enshrined in the world of French art of that time, and whose most recent creations were also on display at the exhibition of 1861. Charles Cordier exhibited Capresse or négresse des colonies and Charles-François Leboeuf presented Spartacus noir, both of which depicted figures of Negros.

In the case of Leboeuf, the work in marble was characterized as an approach to the classic model. The thematic construction of the figure of a Negro was influenced by a reading of the classic world, as it was associated the issue of modern slavery with the hero of the slave resistance of Roman Antiquity. Following the classical taste, the sculpture exhibited in 1861 emphasized the anatomy of the human form, but without being an actual Greek or Roman imitation. With its fierce expression, the sculpted figure carried a club that symbolized the act of social revolt. A comment by the critic of the Gazette des Beaux Arts recognized, in these artists, the principle of idealization and reference to the old model, while to Rochet, it attributed the reproduction of banal forms, effectively disqualifying his indigenous images (LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, 1994, p. 42). It is worth pointing out that Rochet's indigenous figures appear to be less idealized in the critic's view than when seen through modern eyes.

The movement of French ethnographic sculpture, therefore, brought into question the traditions of European sculpture. On one hand, it questioned the fate of classicism in sculpture, but on the other, it questioned the legacy of the realist tradition of French sculpture. This contradiction was seen in the criticism, for example, surrounding the comparison between the work of Charles Cordier and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, with the latter being considered more faithful to the realist tradition in that it emphasized the ethnic characters more, while in the work of the former, it was the figure's expression that was given greater emphasis. In this regard, the French debate surrounding Rochet's work falls under the same terms of the general debate of the time concerning ethnographic sculpture, identifying itself with a more realistic tendency. In any case, it can be clearly seen that in the field of French ethnographic sculpture, the trend that became more well-known was the one that enhanced the expressive dimension of the figures depicted, elaborating glances and gestures that dramatized the human figure, emphasizing their dignity and loftiness, and contributing, in particular, to rethinking the representation of non-European peoples in the world of western culture. The interest in dress, which, at the same time, served to emphasize the ethnic distinctiveness and complement the figures' expressions, accompanied this trend towards redefining the meanings attributed to ethnic identities in that European historical context.

The bronze sculpture was predominant in the spread of ethnographic sculpture, as in the case of the work of Louis Rochet. But the evolution of the work of Charles Cordier highlighted the possibilities of exploring polychromy in sculpture, making use of a mixture of materials (PAPET, 2004). Besides serving to emphasize the elaboration of the sculpture, this characteristic also constituted a distinctive aspect of a trend in ethnographic sculpture, and of the tastes of the time (LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, 1994). Rochet's work, however, did not follow this polychromatic trend, but came closer to the work of Carpeaux, author of the famous La Négresse.

However, it is interesting to note that the sculptural creation of Louis Rochet around the indigenous Brazilian figures was defined in the paintings of European art of his time, corresponding to a localized artistic program.

Civic Image

Louis Rochet was a relatively successful nineteenth-century French sculptor, whose life and work were marked by his contact with Brazil. In 1855, Rochet won third place in a public tender for proposals for the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil.4 4 The tender documents are divided among the collections of the Museu Dom John VI, the Escola de Belas Artes of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (EBA-UFRJ) and the Arquivo Nacional. At the first institution, the drawings of competing projects are kept; at the second institution, there are photos by Henry Klumb of the maquettes presented, and the winning project. The monument project was a longstanding one. Among the competing projects, first place went to the creation of Brazilian João Maximiano Mafra, a professor at the Academia Imperial das Belas Artes [Imperial Academy of Fine Arts] and in second place, the design of the German Ludwig Georg Bappo was selected. Considering the magnitude of the work and the technical difficulties inherent to its accomplishment in Brazil, even though he was not a winner of the public tender, Louis Rochet received a commission to carry out the winning project in France.5 5 It is observed that the first sculpture cast in bronze in Brazil was O Gênio de Franklin, by Almeida Reis, in 1885. The French sculptor therefore made two trips to Brazil as part of his contract: the first in 1856, the year on which the service was commissioned, to study the means of carrying out the work and gather the information needed to produce the monumental piece; and the second in 1862, the year in which the public monument was assembled and inaugurated in the city of Rio de Janeiro, to direct the installation works.

The original project ended up gaining adaptations that inscribed to the concept of the work of French sculptor Louis Rochet, which along with the qualities of its realization, leads us to affirm that the French artist is the author of this great work of public sculpture in Brazil. However, there is no denying that the artist was responding to an artistic design imposed by the public tender, and the process of commissioning the work (KNAUSS, 2010, p. 161-170). Although the creation of the equestrian statue of the emperor was determined by the original design of Maximiano Mafra, it fell to the French artist to perform the final design of the sculpture. As Jorge Coli observes, in this case, "there is a good case of cross-referencing between Brazilian project, looking out, 'high' and 'low' culture" (COLI, 2010).

Subsequently, Louis Rochet was also responsible for creating the statue of José Bonifácio, inaugurated in 1872 in the São Francisco de Paula public square in the city of Rio de Janeiro, as the central object of the fifty-year commemorations of the Independence of Brazil.6 6 For a characterization of the inauguration of the statue, see: KNAUSS, Paulo; KRAAY, Hendrik. The inauguration of the statue of José Bonifácio, in the view of a foreign correspondent, September 7, 1872. Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro: v. 171, p. 279-289, 2010. The second public sculpture completed the narrative proposed by first, revealing a certain reading of the history of the assertion of a Nation State in Brazil. To this is added the work of Rochet in Brazil, a statue of the Empress Teresa Cristina, also completed in 1872, and a project that never came to fruition, of a column to commemorate the victory in the Paraguayan War. Thus, although he was a Frenchman, the artistic work of Louis Rochet found, in Brazil, one of its definitive destinations. His influence extended to sculpture in Brazil, on receiving, at his French workshop, the Brazilian artist Almeida Reis, a student of the Academia Imperial das Belas Artes [Imperial Academy of Fine Arts], who had won the trip as a prize in 1866.

It should be emphasized, however, that the creation of the Indians to adorn the pedestal of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I were part of a sculptural project that represented, in bronze, the history of the affirmation of the Nation State in Brazil. The sculptural assembly is organized based on a series of columns that surround the artistic work, with each of the columns bearing a date in the history of the national Independence up until the granting of the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil. The pedestal is composed of allegorical representations of the geography of national unity, representing the rivers of territorial integration, worked into the sculpture with the figures of the Indians and elements of the regional fauna. Atop the whole edifice is the equestrian statue of the Emperor, holding in his hand the Manifesto das Nações (Manifesto of the Nations), the first document of affirmation of national Independence. The integration of the parts of the composition symbolically translate a narrative structure based on representations of the period in history - the inscriptions on the columns, the space of history - the allegories on the pedestal, the subject of historical action - the statue of the emperor and the product of the historical action – the Manifesto das Nações - in the Emperor's hand, and which presents a reading of the building of the Nation State.7 7 Cf., KNAUSS, Paulo A festa da imagem: a afirmação da escultura pública no Brasil do século XIX. 19&20. Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 4, Oct./Dec. 2011. Available at: http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/pknauss.htm. Accessed on: May 20, 2010:

In this sense, like the animals, the Indians in the sculpture emerge from the general composition like natural elements of the earth. Part of the sculptural whole, the Indigenous images take on civic significance, which justifies their inclusion in the work characterized by the logic of the monument, which combines the civic sculpture of Europe with that of Brazil.

National Iconography

And so it is that the Indians of the pedestal of the equestrian statue of the Emperor Dom Pedro I became consecrated as a landmark in the national iconography of Brazil. Even today, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the pedestal, cast in broze, draws attention due to the Indigenous figures that guard the sculpture assembly. For the first time in Brazil, the image of Indians from the land gained a prominent place in the public square in the capital of the Empire of Brazil, at the time of its inauguration in March 1862. Those who passed by the monument could not resist walking round the whole sculpture, to see all its different elements. It was the presence of the figures of the Indians that most attracted attention, not only due to their position, closer to the viewer than the image of the emperor, but also for the fact that the direction of their gaze leads the viewer's attention. Each Indian is gazing in a different direction.

These sculptural allegories gained special significance at that time of affirmation of Indianist thought, which established a reading of the history of Brazil, with the Indigenous peoples being idealized as a symbol of national construction. In the context of the Second Brazilian Kingdom, the work of Louis Rochet opened up the field of sculpture to Indianism, with the allegories on the pedestal of the statue of the first Brazilian emperor. Later, the sculptural creations of Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro, Almeida Reis and Rodolfo Bernardelli would also make their artistic contributions to this universe of promoting the image of the Brazilian Indian. Although the allegorical image of the Indians had been used since this colonial period to identify America, is was in the second half of the nineteenth century that the plastic arts became part of this movement of promoting the Indian as an icon of the Brazilian empire, treating his history of resistance as a measure of affirmation of the nation and national culture, defining what was unique and peculiar to Brazil. The artistic versions, however, are not the same, as the different trends distinguished the works of art mentioned.

One cannot deny that the indigenous theme was part of the repertoire of the cultural universe of Romanticism in nineteenth-century Brazil. The comparison, however, shows marked differences in the artist's sculptures. In Rochet's work, the bodies of the indigenous statues on the pedestal of the 1862 work have expressive gestures, reinforced by faces that communicate with the viewer. A result of the artist's close study, the ethic features characterize the indigenous faces according to their origin. The bodily expressiveness does not carry the ethnic features of the composition, although it is crucial in the appreciation of the sculptural whole. However, while the face and the elements of dress distinguish the indigenous figures, the body is not carved in a way that would distinguish the figures from an ethnic perspective, with the carved musculature and gestural movements being predominant. Study Materials that Rochet possessed also indicate the artist's dedication to the search for facial features that could distinguish the Indians, while also avoiding over-generalization. In the catalog of his collection, there are indications of lithographs of portraits of Indians from the work of Spix and Martius.8 8 Cf., Catalogue des Sculptures...de M. Louis Rochet..., par Horsin Déon.... Paris: 1878.

The influence of Rochet's images of indigenous people is evident in the development of the sculptural allegory Rio Paraíba do Sul by Almeida Reis, created in 1866/1867. The return to the theme of a river is clearly related to the allegories on the equestrian statue, which had the same thematic inspiration. The head, with its descriptive features, and the body, with its expressive outlines, also identify this affiliation. The dimensions of the work (146 x 120 x 97 cm) are also close to the creation of the master and the disciple. Also, as the project was designed while he was in France studying with Louis Rochet, it can be assumed that Almeida Reis favored the models of the Indian's heads gathered by the French sculptor after his trip to Rio de Janeiro in the 1850s.9 9 The history of this work marks the career of Almeida Reis, because as a work of a stipendiary of the Academia Imperial das Belas Artes, it contravened the regulation that precluded sending work with Biblical or mythological themes. See: CHRISTO, Indianismo na década de 1860: exposições e crítica de arte. Boletim Grupo de Estudos Arte & Fotografia - Anais do VI Seminário Arte, Cultura e Fotografia. São Paulo: CAP-ECA-USP, n. 5, 2012. The work is part of the archives of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile, the well-known Alegoria do Império, created by Chaves Pinheiro in 1872, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Independence of Brazil, represents an Indian, his body in a stiff pose, distinguished by a warrior's dress.10 10 A presentation of the sculptural works of Francisco Chaves Pinheiro can be seen in ALFREDO, Fatima. Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro e sua contribuição à imaginária carioca oitocentista. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 2, Apr. 2010. Available at: http://www.dezenovevinte.net/artistas/fmcp_fa.htm. Accessed on: May 20, 2010: The work is part of the archives of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro. Unlike Rochet's sculpture, the face of Chaves Pinheiro's Indian does not have accentuated ethnic features. The stiff pose of the body also contrasts with the sculpture of the French artist. The scepter and the shield, with the imperial weapons carried by the figure, certainly do not correspond to any of the native cultures of the land of Brazil, but rather, are related to the characterization of a soldier from classical times. There is, therefore, an evident classicizing exercise in the construction of the image of the indigenous people by the Brazilian artist Chaves Pinheiro, which suggests an intention to create a national emblem. Its concept differs from the work of Rochet, constituting another model for the representation of the Indian in sculpture.

In the case of Rodolfo Bernadelli, although his production around the image of the indigenous people presented variations throughout his career, his preference for the female form is emphasized, emphasizing the psychological dimension of each sculpted figure. Thus, it is not the ethnic characteristics that are emphasized in the indigenous figures of Bernardelli, but rather, the personalities of the characters represented. In Faceira in particular, created in 1880, Gonzaga Duque noted this feature of the work (DUQUE, 1995, p. 251-256). One might also say that the bodily expression inherent to Bernadelli's figures is also promoted, but in a different way, in the work of Louis Rochet.11 11 The Indianist sculpture of Rodolfo Bernadelli is dealt with in: SILVA, Maria do Carmo Couto da. Representações do índio na arte brasileira do século XIX. RHAA. Campinas : n. 8. p. 63-71. http://www.unicamp.br/chaa/rhaa/downloads/Revista%208%20-%20artigo%205.pdf. Accessed on: 06/20/2010.

It is important to stress, therefore, that the exploitation of the indigenous figure in nineteenth-century Brazilian sculpture presented different treatments of ethnic representation. Indianism, in the field of sculpture, did not claim to be a formal model in same way that was claimed for the representation of the indigenous figure, which suggests that it is, rather, the theme that ended up becoming consolidated in the artistic trends of Brazil. In any case, Indianism was established as a program of the arts in Brazil, and was fundamental for defining a direction for local art.

However, considering that Indianism was a trend of ideas and tastes in nineteenth-century Brazil, the images of Indians on the pedestal of Louis Rochet's equestrian statue of the Emperor are surprising because they indicate that the work of a Frenchman was capable of anticipating this trend in the field of sculpture. Considering, however, the place of his work in the movement of French ethnographic sculpture of his time, one can understand how the French sculptor was able to absorb so well the Brazilian sculptural program representing figures of Indians from Brazil in sculpture. The pioneering sense of Brazilian Indianism that can attributed to his pieces of ethnographic mark combined perfectly with the European way of representing the diversity of cultures in sculpture. Certainly, the fact that his work tied in with the discussions of the European art of his time was what enabled Rochet to integrate so well into the universe of art of Indianism in Brazil.

One should not forget, however, that Louis Rochet only developed the project of the Brazilian Wolfgang Mafra, who was the original winner of the competition. Thus, the idea of exploring the indigenous image in association with the image of the emperor did not exactly originate with the French sculptor, and his insertion in the order of Indianism can be attributed not to a personal movement, but to his encounter with the world of the arts in Brazil. However, to develop the project, Rochet redefined the original proposal with the support of the commission that accompanied and approved his final solution, presenting, on the wider sides of the pedestal, a pair of indigenous figures, rather than an individual figure, which was maintained on the narrower sides.12 12 The report of Rochet presented the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts was published by Alfredo Galvao with the following reference: "Equestrian Statue of Dom Pedro I - Contract of Sr. Rochet, Statuary, and Proposal presented by him to the Commission - In 1856 - Print. Second of December, by Paula Brito - Printer of the Casa Imperial - Rio de Janeiro". According to Alfredo Galvão, the publication was part of the archives of the library of the Sociedade Brasileira de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, which has been closed for some years. Cf., KNAUSS, Paul. Award-winning Project ... op. cit . [I thank Douglas Thomaz de Oliveira for this data survey.] Thus, we can say that the French sculptor effectively committed himself to the project, deepening the elements of the original proposal, and enhancing the indigenous presence on the sculpture. The fact is that based on the commission he received, the European repertoire of Rochet's artistic creation became part of the universe of nineteenth century Indianism, enabling his indigenous figures in bronze to be characterized as a product of the process of construction of Brazilian art.

Image of Brazil

The maquettes of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I are part of the collection of the Museu Trocadero, the first public ethnographic museum in France. Created in 1878 and installed in the old Palácio do Trocadero, in Paris. The museum was closed and the building demolished in 1935, to be replaced by the present-day Palais De Chaillot, which came to house the new Musée de L'Homme (Museum of Man) and the Museu Nacional de Artes e Tradições Populares (National Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions). On the occasion of the closing of the Museu Trocadero, the French government sold off parts of its collections, including Rochet's maquettes. The pedestal of the public monument is composed of four indigenous images, but it is not known whether there was a forth maquette that would complement the monumental version of the work, as only three survive today.

Put on the market and purchased by a French antiquarian, the three maquettes were then purchased by Brazilian collector Djalma da Fonseca Hermes. Information about his purchase is available to us today in documented form, thanks to the auction of the Fonseca Hermes collection, which listed the pieces in its catalog, as well as gathering texts that enable the collection to be conceptualized.13 13 Collections gathered by Djalma da Fonseca Hermes; auction in July 1941 (catalog). States that the decision to sell the collection resulted from the decision of the collector to leave his home in Tijuca. Letter from ambassador João Hermes Pereira de Araújo to the directors of the Museu Histórico Nacional, dated Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 31, 1987. Arquivo Museu Histórico Nacional. On the cover sheet, with emphasis, it defines the collection as "historical objects and works of art". In the introductory text, the auctioneer, Antonio de Paula Affonso states that the collection "reveals not only a great culture of art but also a strong love for our land". In truth, this comment emphasizes the fact that the Djalma Fonseca Hermes' collection was of great prominence in the history of art collecting in Brazil, as it was one of the most important collections to focus on objects of artistic value, but that were representative for the history of Brazil. Its importance is even more significant when we take into account that the previous generation of collectors devoted itself more to European art than to objects of interest for the history of Brazil. Beside Fonseca Hermes, another contemporary collector who was acclaimed for the same vocation was Alfredo Lage, whose collection gave rise to the Museu Mariano Procópio in the city of Juiz de Fora.

In a press Article published in the Diário Carioca of June 8, 1941 and attached to the catalog, J. C. de Macedo Soares wrote:

The newspapers are announcing the sell-off, under the auctioneer's gavel, of the magnificent collection of paintings and objects of historical value belonging to the well-known collector. The catalogs are organized in Spanish and English, and experts and knowledgeable persons have been invited from Argentina and North America to bid at the auction, which to every indication, will exceed the pecuniary limit of the national collectors.

The article emphasized the specialized foreign interest, pointing out the risk to the world of national art represented by the dispersion of valuable works. Throughout the Article, Macedo Soares reiterated the importance of the pieces in the collection that were related mainly to the artists of the Dutch period in Northeastern Brazil, and that formed part of the so-called French Artistic Mission of 1816, emphasizing a certain reading of art in Brazil that the collection represented, for which painting was the center of interpretation of the history of art, and which promoted the participation of artists, whose work was enshrined in the European environment with works that gave rise to representations of the land and the people of Brazil.

This prominence of European art did not prevent the Auctioneer from emphasizing, in his text in the auction catalog, "the Brazilian aspect of the collection". Thus, he mentioned, as the high point of the collection, seven paintings by Franz Post, and also the works of Taunay and Debret, members of a group of French artists who came to Brazil, described in the catalog as the Lebreton mission. Clearly, it was of interest to emphasize how artistic merit and historical importance were combined in the pieces of the collection. In addition to these European names, the text also highlighted the works of Pedro Américo, Almeida Junior, Victor Meirelles, Batista da Costa, Antonio Parreiras, Pedro Alexandrino and Rodolpho Amoedo, as well as Nicolaus Fachinetti, Henrique Bernadelli, Castagneto, Rosalvo Ribeiro and Décio Villares. For the rest, the Auctioneer also noted the importance of the works of European masters such as Murillo and Rosa Bonheur as part of the collection, in addition to promoting pieces of furniture, especially from the time of Dom John VI. The auctioneer's opinion, expressed in the catalog, is surprising, as he made a point of recording his recognition of the value of the collection, arguing that its pieces should remain in Brazil and inviting all Brazilians to collaborate in the acquisition of pieces of the collection. "Lovers of Brazil, you are invited to take the floor! This is your opportunity!" The auction was therefore marked by a civic sense, in favor of Brazilian culture and arts. The commercial act of purchasing pieces by auction, in turn, became transformed into a civic act in the auctioneer's discourse. The fact is that the Getulio Vargas government would end up purchasing most of the lots sold at the auction to enrich the collections of the Museu Histórico Nacional (National History Museum) and the Museu Nacional de Belas (National Museum of Fine Arts), in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the Museu Imperial (Imperial Museum) in, Petropolis, as well as the Museu Antonio Parreiras, in Niteroi.14 14 It is stated that before the sale began, President Getúlio Vargas, accompanied by Rodrigo Mello Franco de Andrade, head of the Department of National Historical and Artistic Heritage, and by the directors of the Museu Histórico Nacional, the Museu Imperial and the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, visited the exhibition and gave instructions to the employees who were accompanying them, to acquire all the pieces of interest to the government. An extensive list was made and, in thiscase, the entire collection of the auction was overturned. Djalma da Fonseca Hermes decided to remove from sale all the selected pieces, making a deal with the government for the entire lot. The list of pieces purchased by the government was published in the pages of the Jornal do Comércio on August 27, 1941. Arquivo do Museu Histórico Nacional . [I thank Fernando Ariel for investigating the data at the Museu Histórico Nacional.]

The civic sense of the collector's practice is also emphasized in the correspondence between the collector Djalma Fonseca Hermes and the São Paulo historian Afonso Escragnolle Taunay, and which is included in the catalog. In a letter dated April 1941, Taunay commented that the news of the commercial dispersion of the collection left him feeling "desolate", emphasizing that the collection was built, among other motivations, with a "patriotic sense ". In his reply dated May of the same year, the collector confirmed the "nationalist and patriotic" sense by which he was moved by more than twenty years of so-called "conscientious" research in Brazil, and particularly in Paris, France, where he states that he found "many new things", in his own words, mentioning the European engravings and paintings of Franz Post and Nicolau Antoine Taunay, attributing them a connotation of national collective asset, even though they were produced for the European artistic world. Next, the list of highlights of the collection also includes the words "original maquettes of the monument to Pedro I, by Rochet ", adding a note on "a sad recollection": ~The payment of several million old reals in the form of customs duties ... " Hence the practice of the Collector being defined as fulfilling a civic practice, based on the example of Fonseca Hermes. It was in this context that the acquisition of three maquettes representing the Madeira, Sao Francisco and Paraná rivers on the pedestal of the statue of Dom Pedro must also be understood in its civic meaning. Its acquisition by a private collector at the end of the 1930s becomes legitimate as an act of defense of the national historical and artistic patrimony, anticipating the attitude that the state should take in relation to cause of art as a public asset.

In the Auctioneer's text in the collection catalog, the maquettes are described as "one of the greatest gems". This emphasis given to the exceptionality of these scale models justifies the inclusion of their photographs in the opening pages of the book of images of the catalog, all in black and white, preceded only by the image of a Franz Post, the only image in color in the publication. Listing and describing the maquettes in item nos. 816, 834 and 853 of the auction, in all three cases, a note is added to the effect that the pieces were executed by Rochet and his disciple, Rodin. There is a clear marketing strategy of promoting the value of the work through the use of the association with the name of the French sculptor, whose fame would supersede that of his master, becoming famous in his own right, long after Rochet. There is no indicated source that confirms the data, but the link between the sculptural work and the world of European art is thus strengthened. It is a case of the national making use of the foreign to lend itself artistic legitimacy. Paula Affonso, the Auctioneer, ends with the statement that "besides their artistic value, one must also consider their exceptional, almost unparalleled historic value". Thus, it is clear that artistic value can be international, but it is the historical value that distinguishes the piece in Brazil, and gives it national importance. And so, the maquettes of the French artist Rochet were defined as works of art in Brazil. The maquette of the emperor on horseback went to the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, and the allegories indigenous people were deposited in the Museu Histórico Nacional, as if to suggest that one was defined by its artistic merit, and the others by their historic value, but failing to consider that it is the very indigenous images themselves that became known because they had been exhibited at the art exhibition in Paris.

O Negro Horácio : the unplanned sculpture

Around the presence of Rochet in Brazil, a fact that is little commented on is that in 1856, during his stay in Rio de Janeiro to prepare the project for the execution of the statue of Emperor Dom Pedro I, the French sculptor prepared another sculpture that is little known but that deserves special distinction due to its exceptionality. This is the bust of a Negro, classified in the Musée de L'Homme in Paris, France, where it is currently on display under the title of buste de Bresilien, or Brazilian bust. The work in bronze is signed by L. Rochet and dated 1856, and is situated next to the colored maquettes of the indigenous heads from Brazil, also housed in that museum.

Among the diverse and numerous pieces of art, it is in the catalog of the Louis Rochet collection, exhibited and offered for sale in the city of Paris, in 1878, that among the marbles and bronzes, we find the bust known as Le Négre Horace. The catalog also lists a plaster model of the same bust.15 15 Cf., Catalog des Sculputures ... of M. Louis Rochet ..., Horsin Déon pair... Paris: 1878.

The Bulletin de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, published in 1869, carried a notice that the sculptor's brother, Charles Rochet, had donated to this scientific society the image of a Negro in plaster. We can hypothesize that this piece was the same model as the one mentioned in the 1878 catalog, bearing in mind that according to this reference from the Anthropology Society of Paris, Charles Rochet claimed that the model was designed by his brother Louis Rochet, during his visit to Rio de Janeiro in 1856, the year in which he was in Brazil to carry out studies and finalize the conditions of his contract to create the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I. The same comment also states that it was the image of a slave and cook of French traders, who was forty years of age and was called Horacio. Born in the region of Cassange, in what was then Guinea, now part of the territory of Angola, Horacio had been bought five years previously by Senhor Desmarais. Thus, if Horacio was 40 years old in 1856, it can be assumed that he was born in 1816 and that in 1821 he was bought as a slave. It would not be possible to say precisely when he traveled to Brazil, but it can be assumed that in was probably around the same time.16 16 Cf., Bulletin de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, Paris, be. 2, t. 4, Fasc. 1-4, 1869. Available at: http://gallica.fr. Accessed on May 14, 2008.

It is interesting to note how the figure is described in the text of that scientific society publication, highlighting the interest in analysis of the physical characteristics of the face presented in sculpture. According to the reference, the figure had small ears and a mouth with fleshy lips that competed with the nose, a characteristic that is not attributed to a kind of muscular hypertrophy or prognathism. In addition, it indicates that the hair had the common characteristic of the Negro, while the straight beard hair resembled that of the Europeans. Finally, the record states: "The characteristics that he has can be attributed both to individual characteristics and to characteristics of race".17 17 Cf., Bulletin de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, Paris, be. 2, t. 4, Fasc. 1-4, 1869. [author's own Translation.] This description is clearly from the perspective of physical anthropologists, as it describes the face in detail, but is less interested in the expressive elements.

Like other foreign travelers of the nineteenth century, Louis Rochet's interest was aroused by the ethnic diversity of the local society, and his first sculptures in bronze were of Indians and a Negro slave girl from Brazil. Through these images, the sculptor definitively marked his presence in the European artistic trend of the time in ethnographic sculpture, which combined the love of science and the love of the arts.

Standing before the sculpture bust of Horacio, the good workmanship in bronze and the sculpted beauty of the piece, the attention is drawn to the figure's sculpted gaze, which exerts a power of attraction over the viewer. It is worth noting that in the collection catalog, the bust is described as an "anthropological study executed in Rio". The text therefore describes the descriptive nature of the work as the product of anthropological study, but does not emphasize the artistic creation or the expressive power of the piece. However, it is then recorded that the work was exhibited in Paris, at the exhibition of 1857, the same exhibition in which the orientalism-inspired painting by Jean-Léon Gêrome attracted great attention at the time, confirming the interest of the European artists in representations of cultural diversity (MILLER, 2010, p. 106-118). Although the display of the bust of Horacio did not attract much attention from the critics, its presence at the art exhibition confirms its artistic nature.18 18 Maxime du Camp, for example, one of the French art critics that most followed the exhibition of that year, does not present any commentary on the created by Rochet in Brazil. Cf., DU CAMP, Maxime. Le salon de 1857. Paris: Libr. Nouvelle, 1857. Thus, the conceptualization of the figure of Horacio is marked by a combination of scientific study and esthetic taste, between anthropology and art.

Anthropology and Art

Charles Rochet, brother of Louis Rochet, discussed the relationship between anthropology and art in a letter published in the section of February 21, 1895 of the Anthropology Society of Paris. Although it is true that there was a difference between the perspectives of science and art, Charles did not believe in an absolute barrier. In this respect, he compares the natural man, which should be studied by science, with the statue in the public square, which should be seen from all angles. He also emphasizes that one of the aspects that must be related to the arts is the physical approach, and the exterior of man, alive and animated; human perfection and its relationship with the beauty of form. Charles Rochet therefore established a link between anthropometric research and sculptural research, based on the bodily form.

When presenting his point of view, the author refers to two of his previous works. The first was presented in 1875, at the same Parisian scientific anthropology society, and the other, from the same period, was presented at the Academia de Belas Artes. Both deal with geometry and the laws of proportion of the forms of the human body and their use by the Greek artists, and comprise the basis of his book Le protype humain (The human prototype), published in French and English. What we wish to emphasize here is that Charles Rochet believed that based on this fundamental type, it is possible to form the basis of a comparison between the various individuals, peoples and races, which could be defined as variants. In his presentation, we see importance of the study of heads in his research on form, which has a correspondence with the Indians busts created by Louis Rochet in Brazil. Due to the French sculptor's experience in Brazil, it can be assumed that his method of studying the human forms and figures, in keeping with the ideas of his brother, also included the study of heads and faces, as is seen in the collection of Indian busts created by the French sculptor to conceive the allegories of the pedestal of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I.

Although a longstanding member of the scientific society, Charles Rochet was also a sculptor, like his brother Louis, which explains why, even in the field of anthropology, it is the artistic commitment that is predominant in his arguments. In this sense, it is understood that his work is characterized not only as a scientific work per se. This characteristic of his study was highlighted by Sr. Sanson, a member of the Anthropology Society Paris, who, on giving his opinion about the work of Charles Rochet, stressed that there was no intention to incorporate anthropological science into his study, because he was clearly an artist. However, in his considerations, he pointed out that the influence of Rochet's work in the scientific field was undeniable, having made his contribution to the development of his studies on the races by insisting on the need to focus the study not only on data relating to head measurements, but also to include the classification of nasal forms. This debate highlights the fact that in the European context of the nineteenth century, scientists and artists were questioning the bodily forms, and the observations of both disciplinary perspectives had a basis for collaboration.

According to Edouard Papet, in France of the 1840s, despite the invention of photography, there was a proliferation of the production of natural sculpted models in different branches of science. Exploration of the volumetric qualities of the modeled forms was prompted by taxonomical study, or for didactic purposes, which survived alongside the rise of the photographic image. In the field of phrenology in particular, which sought to establish deterministic relationships between a person's cranial measurements and their character and mental capacity, modeling was quite widely used, applying wax or plaster to parts of the body and face. In this case, taste did not lead sculptural choices, because, on the contrary, before the interest in the extraordinary or in aberrations stood out due to the intention of characterizing pathologies through the display of their physiognomic features. The other side of this same attitude led to the faces of famous figures being recorded in the molds, keeping their features alive. On the other hand, the production of natural modeling was still taking place in the context of colonialism and scientific expeditions. Thus, sculptural modeling was used in the circumnavigation of Dumont d'Urville, from 1837 to 1840, and also in the expedition commanded by Castelnau in South America, from 1843 to 1847, taking in Brazil. Sculptural objectivity, in this case, guaranteed the accuracy of the physiognomy or the anatomy, and allowed the ethnic types to be translated into sculptural form in a way that was descriptive and three-dimensional, guaranteeing precision and scientific neutrality. In the museum galleries, the exhibition of these natural models showed the whole range of European colonialist ideology (PAPET, 2001).

The Rochet brothers, in addition to their family ties, were constant collaborators, sharing the same sculptor's workshop, but they also shared an interest in the diversity of cultures and ethnicities. Charles was a member of the Anthropology Society of Paris, and Louis was a leading sinologist of his day, and the author of a grammar of the Chinese language that became a leading reference for French scholars.19 19 For a biographical description of Louis Rochet, see: ROCHET, André. Louis Rochet, sculpteur et sinologue. Ed. André Bonne, 1978. Also valuable is the fact that the sources of their research in Brazil - the prints of Spix and Martius - and the product of the research - the Indian busts – still survive today. The interest and engagement of the two brothers in the field of anthropology goes some way to explaining why these documents were kept for posterity. It was Charles who preserved and publicized his brother's collection after his death. This contrasts with the few sources that we have concerning the process of creating the image of the emperor Dom Pedro I, and the research that Louis Rochet would have carried out in his design of the imperial figure.

However, the bust of Horacio was not part of Louis Rochet's work program in Brazil, but came out of his personal interest. Slavery must have attracted the attention of the sculptor and traveler. But there is no doubt that the characteristic physical type of Horacio was another point of interest for Rochet, which he combined with his interest in physical anthropology that he probably shared with his brother. Through the Chinese grammar that he elaborated, the French sculptor demonstrated his knowledge of Asia; through the busts of the Indians of Brazil, he presented his research on the indigenous peoples of America; and through the bust of Horacio, the sculptor made his contribution to the study of the physical types of the Black African. This cultural diversity constituted a program for his intellectual research, and prompted his artistic creation, with its own hallmarks.

Ethnographic Sculpture

It is notable that the bust of Horacio circulated in France, and that until today, it has not attracted much interest from the Brazilian point of view. It is a unique piece, from an artistic perspective, as it is distinguished by the quality of work displayed in the European exhibition. On the other hand, the bust is special from a symbolic point of view, as it portrays, in sculptural form, a slave who actually existed and whose biography is partially known, which sets it apart from other more well-known allegorical images.

The origin of the representation of the Negro in Brazilian art is often associated with the portrait of the Marinheiro Simão, by Jose Correia Lima, 1853. The bust of Horacio is basically from the same period – just three years later. Their African origin – the first from Cape Verde and the second from the region of Angola – brings together the two characters. However, while the face of the sailor gained notoriety in his time, and he was not a slave, Horacio was a common social type, defined by the social class of slavery that existed at the time, therefore the individuality of his face was not given special prominence in society, and his bust was not widely known. The history of the bust therefore follows a general trend, because it cannot be said that in Brazilian sculpture, the image of the Negro has been affirmed as a recurring theme. In painting, the situation was somewhat different, as the figure of the Negro appears in different creations, completing scenes and gaining prominence, especially from the 1880s, in the context of abolitionism (LIMA, 2008). Even in this case, a generic sense of allegory was prevalent in the pictorial composition, and it could not be said that the representation of the Negro slave, with a face and a name, is affirmed in the way it is in Louis Rochet's bust.20 20 For a description of the painting Retrato do intrépido Marinheiro Simão, by Jose Correia Lima, see the specific chapter in: CARDOSO, Rafael. A arte brasileira em 25 quadros (1790-193 0). Rio de Janeiro Record, 2008.

The "Law of the Free Womb" of 1870 also created an opportunity to address the image of the Blacks from a sculptural perspective. Today, the most well-known of these sculptural works of art is a painted plaster model, 171cm in height and 13cm in width, signed by A. D. Brassae and displayed as part of the exhibition circuit of the Museu Histórico Nacional, which was a project of the abolitionist movement. Under the same inspiration of the Free Womb, Chaves Pinheiro created the allegorical group A emancipação do elemento servil, in 1875, which was described by Moreira de Azevedo.21 21 On the work of Chaves Pinheiro, see: ALFREDO, Fátima. Francisco Chaves Pinheiro e sua contribuição à imaginária carioca oitocentista. 19&20 Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 2, Apr 2010 Available at: Http://www.dezenovevinte.net/artistas/fmcp_fa.htm . Accessed on Jun 20, 2010. In these cases, what is described is a version inspired by social Romanticism, which favors the allegorization of political themes, as in the paintings of the same period. Similarly, in 1875, the image A Negra, a work in Val d'Osne cast iron by the French sculptor Mathurin Moreau, was installed in the building of the school of N. Sra. Health, inaugurated by the emperor in the parish of the same name, known as the community center for the Blacks in the city of Rio de Janeiro.22 22 In addition to these nineteenth-century pieces, it is also important to mention the figures of Blacks in miniature by the nineteenth-century Bahian sculptor Erotides Américo de Araújo Lopes, born in Salvador in 1847. In the collection of the Museu Histórico Nacional, there is a set of ten small statues, approximately 20 cm in height, carved in wood (cashew tree). The set comes from the collection of Miguel Calmon and gathers the representation of "street types", such as a fruit seller, a papaya seller, a banana seller, a fish seller, a Black fisherwoman, a Bahian woman in costume, an African crockery seller, and an African porter and peddler. The representation of female figures is highlighted, which was the object of study of Sigrid Porto de Barros. See: QUERINO, Manuel Raymundo. Artistas bahianos: indicações biográficas. 2a. ed. Salvador, A Bahia, /s.d./. p. 31-4.; CARVALHO, Gerardo. Dez estatuetas bahianas. Anais do Museu Histórico Nacional, v. X, p. 69-79, 1949.; and BARROS, Sigrid Porto. A condição social e a indumentária feminina no Brasil Colônia. Anais do Museu Histórico Nacional, v. VIII, p. 117-154, 1947. In these examples, it is the generality of the allegory that is emphasized. This sense certainly continued in sculpture in the treatment of the Negros in the historical context of slavery, and across the time barrier. Decades after the Abolition of slavery in 1922, Flexa Ribeiro, in an article on the fine arts at the centenary exhibition, published in O País, makes reference to the piece Escrava by Antonino de Mattos, which according to the author "personalizes nothing, not even sex" (RIBEIRO, 1922, p. 1). Therefore, the descriptive features of the bust of Horacio is an exception that is only seen in rare examples, such as in the plaster bust of the slave of the Gaucha charqueada of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul, which also deserves further study.

Horacio, as has already been pointed out, is a descriptive rather than an allegorical image, but with a gaze that appeals to the spectator. This gaze makes all the difference, because it shows that the bust does not represent a generic character, like a social type of the period, but an individualized personality, established in the expressiveness of the sculpted face that exerts its power of attraction. In addition, the open and expressive eyes distinguish the description from the physiognomy of natural modeling, which is characterized by the closed eyes of mortuary mask. In the bust of Horacio, therefore, there is a technical difference that affirms its position in the field of art, through the treatment of the eyes. Thus, its creation by Louis Rochet, in the 1850s, is related to the history of ethnographic sculpture, whose concept used by Gérard de Rialle was established based on the French exhibition of 1863 (LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, 1994).

The representation of the Negro was decisive in the affirmation of ethnographic sculpture as a prominent artistic trend in nineteenth-century Europe. Its main artist, Charles Cordier, writes in his memoirs that his career gained a new direction after his encounter with the old Sudanese slave in 1847. In fifteen days, Cordier completed the modeling and prepared the piece for display at the French exhibition in 1848, where it was given the title of Said Abdallah, de la tribu du Mayac, royaume du Darfour. "It was a revelation to the entire art world", wrote the sculptor. In 1851, during the International Exhibition of London, the work in bronze was acquired by Queen Elizabeth I of England. In 1855, at the Universal Exhibition of Paris, now well-known for his African figures, Cordier exhibited a Chinese couple, expanding his figurative repertoire. After that, he received grants from the French government to carry out missions in Algeria, in 1856, in Greece, in 1858 and in Egypt twice, in 1866 and 1868. As in the case of Rochet's encounter with Horacio in Brazil, Cordier describes how several of his busts are, notably, the result of his encounters with individuals, emphasizing the descriptive features of the figures depicted in the sculptures. Although his creations were best known for the pieces exhibited in the Museu d'Orsay, the fate of his work also led to a series of busts by Cordier becoming part of the collections of the Musée de L'Homme in Paris, in the anthropology Laboratory, establishing his legacy between an institution dedicated to the memory of nineteenth-century art, and another dedicated to scientific memory.23 23 Cf., http://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/evenements/expositions/archives/presentation-detaillee/article/charles-cordier-1827-1905-sculpteur-lautre-et-lailleurs-4210.html?S=&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=258&cHash=9c42438621&print=1&no_cache=1&. Accessed on Sep 25, 2012.

From a historical perspective, it should be emphasized, however, that Cordier exhibited his first bust of an African in 1848, the year in which slavery was finally abolished in France. In this respect, there is a particular contextualization that characterizes the tastes in French ethnographic sculpture, a trend with which the bust of Horacio dialogues. In France, in the context of the Second Empire, the work of Cordier was tasked with promoting a worthy and noble image of the Negros, which was seen in new artistic approaches to the issue of representation of ethnic identity in the West (DE MARGERIE, 2004). In this case, the representation of Negros reverted the trend in western art that tended to place figures of Negros in subordinate positions. In addition, the known affirmation of Cordier that "the most beautiful Negro is not the one that is most similar to us" emphasizes the fact that his work is committed to promoting ethnic diversity and the search to legitimize other forms of beauty. His most provocative work is certainly aimez-vous les uns les autres ("love one another"). This sculpture explores the contrast of color of the materials, to represent an inter-racial embrace between two child figures, one Black, the other White.

The ethnographic sculpture that combined ethnographic description and plastic expression vied with the scientific interests of sculpture, which was based on the naturalist expeditions that neutralized the human figures through modeling. It can also be indicated that the ethnographic study in sculpture sometimes provided a source for artistic research. In this sense, one must inevitably point to the fact that there is, in the Musée de L'Homme in Paris, a natural model that for all indications, is linked to the development of the famous bust Said Abdallah, dating from 1848, the work that marked the start of Charles Cordier's career. A comparison between the two pieces highlights the freedom of the artist, who in the creative process, imprinted modifications onto the face to enhance its artistic expressiveness, thus confirming his position that science could not restrict artistic creation (PAPET, 2001). Thus, Charles Cordier anticipated his own statement published in the bulletin of the Anthropology Society of Paris, in 1862, that "one cannot allow the sentiment of art to be neglected by scientific precision" (apud Cordier, 2004, p. 26). Although it would serve as a scientific source, in the field of ethnographic sculpture, it imposed the artistic exercise of the artist, and the ability to conceive of volumes by his own hands.

We cannot fail to recognize that Louis Rochet's Le Négro Horacio is situated in this artistic universe of the nineteenth century, which sought to draw a particular link between art and ethnic identities, promoting physical and cultural otherness as a mark of beauty in the history of sculpture. The dialog of Horacio proposed by Rochet's creation is therefore situated in France, and not in the Brazilian context. Although it is a creation marked by contact with the reality of Brazil, it cannot be denied that the bronze bust is part of the historical European context of artistic and social debate, which gives it meaning, despite the fact that it was dated in Rio de Janeiro with letters highlighted by its artist. At this point, we can understand why work was not well-known in the Brazil of his time, or in subsequent periods. On the other hand, its dating in the city of the Southern hemisphere, and its placement next to the indigenous busts, but in European artistic taste and without exotic forms, have certainly led to the pieces being kept in the technical reserve of the museum of science (and not of art) of the French capital. Between art and science, there is no doubt that the slave from Brazil became French through the sculpture.

The biography of these sculptural pieces by the French sculptor Louis Rochet is characterized as gazes that intertwine before the object of the art, even though they are the same pieces. In the case of the Indians of Rochet's maquettes, the gaze of the figures is the result of the bodily expression and suggests a dynamic personality of the Indian represented, and which is presented to the viewer's vision. In a sensitive form, the indigenous figures on the pedestal of the equestrian statue are characterized by the treatment given to their gaze. This perspective contrasts with the images of the models in plaster, which are characterized by their static gaze. Certainly, it is the gaze of the Négro Horacio that most challenges the spectator, and not without reason, it is the only piece that represents a character with his own name. But it is, above all, the game of gazes before the work that provokes this questioning. The same pieces, throughout their history, reveal the polysemous nature of the work of art that provokes a game of gazes that deserves to be emphasized. The exhibition of the work of art causes different perspectives to be released in relation to the same piece. In the case of the sculpted image of Indians and Negros in the 19th century, what we see is the way the meanings shift and slide, between their artistic, ethnographic and historical qualities. Their creation was marked by an intersection of artistic programs, participating in the art worlds of both Europe, and Brazil. The same artistic solution corresponded to the different expectations of the meaning of the work of art, capable of coexisting in the same work. This explains why Rochet's pieces are sometimes presented in art exhibitions, sometimes in ethnographic museums, and sometimes in history museums. They are the same sculptures, but different perspectives that characterize a local process of production of meanings that gives forms of significant appropriation. And so it is that in sculpture, the Indian of Brazil was French, but became a naturalized Brazilian, while Horacio, the Negro slave from Brazil, immigrated to France without return.

Notes

Bibliographic references

  • CHRISTO, Maraliz de Castro Vieira. Indianismo na década de 1860: exposições e crítica de arte. Boletim Grupo de Estudos Arte & Fotografia - Anais do VI Seminário Arte, Cultura e Fotografia São Paulo: CAP-ECA-USP, n. 5, 2012
  • COLI, Jorge. Idealização do índio moldou a cultura nacional. Folha de São Paulo http://www.1.folha.uol.com.br/fol/brasil500/imagens5htm Acesso em 5 mar 2010.
  • DE MARGERIE, Laure. Le plus beau nègre n´est pas celui qui nous ressemble le plus (Cordier, 1862). Charles Cordier; l'autre et l'ailleurs Paris: Ed. de La Martiniere, 2004.
  • DU CAMP, Maxime. Le salon de 1861 Paris: A. Boudilliat & Cie. Eds., 1861. p. 173.
  • DUQUE, Gonzaga. A arte brasileira São Paulo: Mercado de Letras, 1995. P. 251-256.
  • GAUTIER, Theóphile. Abécédeaire du salon de 1861 Paris : E. Dentu, 1861. p. 415.
  • KNAUSS, Paulo . Projeto premiado: a estátua equestre de d. Pedro I no desenho de Maximiano Mafra. In: MALTA, Marize (Org.). O ensino artístico, a história da arte e o Museu d. João VI 1 ed. Rio de Janeiro: EBA/UFRJ, 2010, v. 1, p. 161-170.
  • LE NORMAND-ROMAIN, Antoinette et al. La sculpture ethnographique; de la Venus hottentote à la Tehura de Gauguin. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994.
  • LIMA, Heloisa Pires. A presença negra nas telas: visita às exposições do circuito da Academia Imperial de Belas Artes na década de 1880.19&20, Rio de Janeiro: v. III, n. 1, jan. 2008. Disponível em: <http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/obras_negros.htm. Acesso em: 20 jun 2010.
  • MILLER, Peter Benson. Gêrome and the ethnographic realism at the salon of 1857. In: ALLAN, Scott & MORTON, Mary (ed.). Reconsidering Gêrome Los Angeles: Getty, 2010. p. 106-118.
  • PAPET, Edouard. «Avoir le courage de sa polychormie»: Charles Cordier et la sculpture du Second Empire. In: BARTHE, Christine et al. Charles Cordier; l'autre et l'ailleurs Paris: Ed. de La Martiniere, 2004.
  • PAPET, Edouard. Le moulage sur nature au service de la science. In: À fleur de peau: le moulage sur nature au XIXe. Siècle. Paris, Réunions des Musées de France, 2001.
  • RIBEIRO, Flexa. As Belas Artes na exposição. V - Arte contemporânea: a escultura. O Paiz Rio de Janeiro: 18 dezembro de 1922.
  • 1
    Folhinha Laemmert, of 8 July 1856, states that: "Mr. Luis Rochet, person responsible for raising the equestrian statue that will be erected in the court of the founder of the Empire, arrived from Europe on the steamship the Cadiz." Cited in: FERREZ, Gilberto. A obra de Eduardo Laemmert.
    Revista do IHGB . Rio de Janeiro: v. 331, 1981, p. 204. [I thank Maria Isabel Lenzi for this indication.]
  • 2
    It should be noted that this combination of native elements and fauna would be taken up again in French sculpture, in the work of Ernest Barrias,
    Les Nubiens or
    Chasseurs d'alligators, dated 1894, currently housed in the Museum d'Orsay, in Paris, France.
  • 3
    Critical Judgment of the project of the equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I can be seen, for example, in: BÜRGER, W.
    Salons de W. Bürger, de 1861 à 1868. Organization by Théophile Thoré & Marius Chaumelin. Paris: Jules Renouard, 1870. t. I. p. 159.
  • 4
    The tender documents are divided among the collections of the Museu Dom John VI, the Escola de Belas Artes of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (EBA-UFRJ) and the Arquivo Nacional. At the first institution, the drawings of competing projects are kept; at the second institution, there are photos by Henry Klumb of the maquettes presented, and the winning project.
  • 5
    It is observed that the first sculpture cast in bronze in Brazil was
    O Gênio de Franklin, by Almeida Reis, in 1885.
  • 6
    For a characterization of the inauguration of the statue, see: KNAUSS, Paulo; KRAAY, Hendrik. The inauguration of the statue of José Bonifácio, in the view of a foreign correspondent, September 7, 1872.
    Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico
    Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro: v. 171, p. 279-289, 2010.
  • 7
    Cf., KNAUSS, Paulo A festa da imagem: a afirmação da escultura pública no Brasil do século XIX.
    19&20. Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 4, Oct./Dec. 2011. Available at:
  • 8
    Cf.,
    Catalogue des Sculptures...de M. Louis Rochet..., par Horsin Déon.... Paris: 1878.
  • 9
    The history of this work marks the career of Almeida Reis, because as a work of a stipendiary of the Academia Imperial das Belas Artes, it contravened the regulation that precluded sending work with Biblical or mythological themes. See: CHRISTO, Indianismo na década de 1860: exposições e crítica de arte. Boletim Grupo de Estudos Arte & Fotografia -
    Anais do VI Seminário Arte, Cultura e Fotografia. São Paulo: CAP-ECA-USP, n. 5, 2012. The work is part of the archives of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro.
  • 10
    A presentation of the sculptural works of Francisco Chaves Pinheiro can be seen in ALFREDO, Fatima. Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro e sua contribuição à imaginária carioca oitocentista.
    19&20, Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 2, Apr. 2010. Available at:
    http://www.dezenovevinte.net/artistas/fmcp_fa.htm. Accessed on: May 20, 2010: The work is part of the archives of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro.
  • 11
    The Indianist sculpture of Rodolfo Bernadelli is dealt with in: SILVA, Maria do Carmo Couto da. Representações do índio na arte brasileira do século XIX.
    RHAA. Campinas
    : n. 8. p. 63-71.
  • 12
    The report of Rochet presented the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts was published by Alfredo Galvao with the following reference: "Equestrian Statue of Dom Pedro I - Contract of Sr. Rochet, Statuary, and Proposal presented by him to the Commission - In 1856 - Print. Second of December, by Paula Brito - Printer of the Casa Imperial - Rio de Janeiro". According to Alfredo Galvão, the publication was part of the archives of the library of the Sociedade Brasileira de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, which has been closed for some years. Cf., KNAUSS, Paul. Award-winning Project ... op. cit
    . [I thank Douglas Thomaz de Oliveira for this data survey.]
  • 13
    Collections gathered by Djalma da Fonseca Hermes; auction in July 1941 (catalog). States that the decision to sell the collection resulted from the decision of the collector to leave his home in Tijuca. Letter from ambassador João Hermes Pereira de Araújo to the directors of the Museu Histórico Nacional, dated Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 31, 1987. Arquivo Museu Histórico Nacional.
  • 14
    It is stated that before the sale began, President Getúlio Vargas, accompanied by Rodrigo Mello Franco de Andrade, head of the Department of National Historical and Artistic Heritage, and by the directors of the Museu Histórico Nacional, the Museu Imperial and the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, visited the exhibition and gave instructions to the employees who were accompanying them, to acquire all the pieces of interest to the government. An extensive list was made and, in thiscase, the entire collection of the auction was overturned. Djalma da Fonseca Hermes decided to remove from sale all the selected pieces, making a deal with the government for the entire lot. The list of pieces purchased by the government was published in the pages of the
    Jornal do Comércio on August 27, 1941. Arquivo do Museu Histórico Nacional . [I thank Fernando Ariel for investigating the data at the Museu Histórico Nacional.]
  • 15
    Cf.,
    Catalog des Sculputures ... of M. Louis Rochet ..., Horsin Déon pair... Paris: 1878.
  • 16
    Cf., Bulletin
    de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, Paris, be. 2, t. 4, Fasc. 1-4, 1869. Available at:
    http://gallica.fr. Accessed on May 14, 2008.
  • 17
    Cf., Bulletin
    de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, Paris, be. 2, t. 4, Fasc. 1-4, 1869. [author's own Translation.]
  • 18
    Maxime du Camp, for example, one of the French art critics that most followed the exhibition of that year, does not present any commentary on the created by Rochet in Brazil. Cf., DU CAMP, Maxime.
    Le salon de 1857. Paris: Libr. Nouvelle, 1857.
  • 19
    For a biographical description of Louis Rochet, see: ROCHET, André.
    Louis Rochet, sculpteur et sinologue. Ed. André Bonne, 1978.
  • 20
    For a description of the painting
    Retrato do intrépido Marinheiro Simão, by Jose Correia Lima, see the specific chapter in: CARDOSO, Rafael.
    A arte brasileira em 25 quadros (1790-193 0). Rio de Janeiro Record, 2008.
  • 21
    On the work of Chaves Pinheiro, see: ALFREDO, Fátima. Francisco Chaves Pinheiro e sua contribuição à imaginária carioca oitocentista.
    19&20 Rio de Janeiro: v. V, n. 2, Apr 2010 Available at:
  • 22
    In addition to these nineteenth-century pieces, it is also important to mention the figures of Blacks in miniature by the nineteenth-century Bahian sculptor Erotides Américo de Araújo Lopes, born in Salvador in 1847. In the collection of the Museu Histórico Nacional, there is a set of ten small statues, approximately 20 cm in height, carved in wood (cashew tree). The set comes from the collection of Miguel Calmon and gathers the representation of "street types", such as a fruit seller, a papaya seller, a banana seller, a fish seller, a Black fisherwoman, a Bahian woman in costume, an African crockery seller, and an African porter and peddler. The representation of female figures is highlighted, which was the object of study of Sigrid Porto de Barros. See: QUERINO, Manuel Raymundo.
    Artistas bahianos: indicações biográficas. 2a. ed. Salvador, A Bahia, /s.d./. p. 31-4.; CARVALHO, Gerardo. Dez estatuetas bahianas.
    Anais do Museu Histórico Nacional, v. X, p. 69-79, 1949.; and BARROS, Sigrid Porto. A condição social e a indumentária feminina no Brasil Colônia.
    Anais do Museu Histórico Nacional, v. VIII, p. 117-154, 1947.
  • 23
    Cf.,
  • Publication Dates

    • Publication in this collection
      01 July 2013
    • Date of issue
      June 2013

    History

    • Received
      Mar 2013
    • Accepted
      May 2013
    Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho Faculdade de Ciências e Letras, UNESP, Campus de Assis, 19 806-900 - Assis - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 18) 3302-5861, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, UNESP, Campus de Franca, 14409-160 - Franca - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 16) 3706-8700 - Assis/Franca - SP - Brazil
    E-mail: revistahistoria@unesp.br