Sculpture and indianism(s) in 19th century Brazil

Alberto Martín Chillón [1]

CHILLÓN, Alberto Martín. Sculpture and indianism(s) in 19th century Brazil. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro, v. X, n. 1, jan./jun. 2015. https://www.doi.org/10.52913/19e20.X1.07b [Português]

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Introduction

Which peoples were those that the Portuguese encountered in the land of the Holy Cross, when they took the opportunity and extended Cabral’s discovery?[2]

1. Friedrich von Martius asked himself the same question in 1845 when deciding how to write the History of Brazil, at a turning point for constructing the new nation, and the question remained in the collective conscience as a problem to be solved during the whole period of the Empire; it was not just about knowing which peoples they were, but also, on a factual level, what their role was in the new state and, on a symbolic level, how they were going to be represented and for what purpose. That is in fact the same question: what should be done with those people encountered by the Portuguese in the land of the Holy Cross, in a society that was completely foreign to their own and what kind of relationship should be established with them? In other words, the paramount question within this context is to know how indigenous people would fit into a western society transplanted to the tropics, not only physically, but also imagetically. The indigenous individual and his image will become a problem, a challenge to be solved, and not always will these two elements be connected.

2. We seek the goal of understanding how fine arts face the difficult task of representing the Other, the indigenous individual; what languages are selected; what characteristics are emphasized; what their main concerns and choices are. It is all about choices, after all, maybe more than inability or lack of knowledge, and believing so allows us to look for a stronger intentionality in artworks, disregarding restrictive labels such as "academicism". We will follow this trend, in opposition to authors like Bardi, who stated that artists:

3. were ignorant of ethnography, had no contact with the indians, were not credulous readers of “A Confederação dos Tamoios” (The Tamoios Confederation), by Domingos José Gonçalves de Magalhães, expressed their Indigenist speculations in a decadent mannerism [...]. The authentic Indianist painting is that which was executed by the illustrators of the exploration groups, since they observed the indigenous people with curiosity and scientific interest.[3]

4. We will not herein consider the greater proximity to an indigenous “reality” as a positive classification criteria, prioritizing the approaches that look at the indigenous individual from a more “realistic” point of view as more perfect and important. It is necessary to evaluate how realistic they actually were, when we know that travelling artists sometimes did not see firsthand what they portrayed in their drawings. Such drawings, which were later considered, to a greater or lesser extent, as an ethnographic observation paradigm by other artists like Louis Rochet in his task of sculpting indigenous individuals, are still today seen as prototypical representations. In the present work, this “realistic” and “modern” aspect, understood almost as a natural evolution, is not taken for a fact that makes this kind of artwork superior, leading the way to be followed by all others, as if it were a kind of judgment parameter.

5. Thus, abandoning the limitations imposed by "academicism", which theoretically kept art production under its firm grip, and not considering “realism” or the “ethnographic” interest as a goal to be achieved, dismissing artworks which followed different trends as failures, we tackle the image of the indigenous individual in fine arts.

6. The expression “Indianism” has given rise to many studies, most of them associating this movement with Romanticism and the search for a national hero. In the face of a lack of medieval traditions, and the impossibility of turning to Portuguese history or to afro-descendent figures, the indian was Romanticism’s last possible resort; “European Romanticism set the standards for stereotyping: native people were stylized as an aboriginal aristocracy. The idealization of nationality had a mix between the epic colonizer and the good savage at its epicenter."[4]

7. Starting from the idea presented by literature in which indians such as Peri represent “the indian as an heroic myth for Brazilian people [...], presented as having superhuman attributes since his first appearance in the novel"[5], we will try to establish if artists perceive the indian the same way in fine arts and if literature is their ultimate source of inspiration. However, we will attempt to approach Indianism - understood as visual representations showing the indian figure as the main or supporting character - as a continuous fact with a long tradition, in which it is difficult to define the beggining of a Romantic intentionality, leaving behind another kind of Indianism, even more evident in sculpture. We will focus mainly on visual representations produced after the age of the great travelling artists and the members of the French Mission, giving a special emphasis to sculptural artworks.

8. However, we place the following question: why focus precisely on sculpture when studying Indianism? Taking a first approach to Indianist artworks, even if a necessarily incomplete one due to the huge gap there is in the reconstruction of such works – it is possible to notice that between 1841, when Carlos Custódio de Azevedo produces the commemorative medal of Dom Pedro II’s coronation, and 1889, year that marks the fall of the Brazilian Empire, we can find many indigenous-themed artworks which can be discussed. Naturally, painting is usually the most discussed topic when it comes to studying Indianism, giving special attention, after Victor Meirelles produces his first painting on the theme, A primeira missa do Brasil (The First Mass in Brazil), to works with female representations such as Marabá, Lindoia, Moema, Atalá, Iracema, etc.. Coincidentally, most of them, except for Moema, by Victor Meirelles, 1866, are painted in the 1870s and mainly in the 1880s. This is the reason why, when observing the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s and 1870s, our main focus of interest, we can see that at the beginning of the 1840’s, there is a profusion of pictorial works alluding to religion as a theme, and with some reference to historical facts, which can be exemplified by the paintings Elevação da cruz pelos selvagens (Indians raising the holy cross), by Rafael Mendes de Carvalho, 1842, Nóbrega e seus companheiros (Nobrega and his fellows) by Manuel Joaquim de Melo Corte Real, 1843, or A primeira missa celebrada em São Vicente no ano de 1532 (The First Mass in Sao Vicente in 1532), by Johann Moritz Rugendas, 1845. Auguste François Biard and Claude Joseph Barandieralso make Indianist paintings - the former paints Cena de selvagens (Scene of Savages), in 1842, and Dois índios numa canoa e Índios adorando o sol (Two Indians in a Canoe and Indians Honoring the Sun), between 1858 and 1860, and the latter, Indígenas e Paisagem do Brasil (Indians and Brazilian Landscape), presented in the 1861 National Exhibition. In 1847, Louis Auguste Moreau exhibits two wildlife scenes: A luta (The fight) and O descanso (Resting). Fuga de Atalá (Atala’s Escape) and As exéquias de Atalá (Atala’s Funeral) are the themes chosen by Frederico Tirone for his two paintings exhibited in 1860.

9. A series of important Indianism-inspired pieces of sculpture is produced as of the late 1850’s throughout 1860’s and the first half of the 1870’s. During this period, sculpture becomes more widespread. Representations are almost always masculine and receive generic names, differently from what happens with representations of female indians during the subsequent decades. Our intention is to reconstruct this tradition of sculptural art the best way possible, analyzing its importance, its distinguishing characteristics and its role in the Indianist movement, taking into consideration that such works precede most Indianist works that are deemed important.

The indianist sculpture

10. We will consider 1845 as the starting point of the Indianist sculptorical genealogy, although we can trace it back to the beginning of the 19th century, when Ferdinand Pettrich created a symbolic piece - which has now been lost - for Indianism: the effigy of an Indian representing Brazil.[6]

11. It is said that, in 1850, Francisco Elídio Pânfiro died while working on a series of bas-relief pieces related to the novel Caramurú, by Santa Rita Durão. In 1857, we can find one of the greatest, but not very well-known Indianist artworks: the façade of the old Cassino Fluminense, from 1857, produced by João Duarte Morais, Severo da Silva Quaresma and Quirino Antônio Vieira. It is the first time an indian had occupied the center of such an important work of art.[7]

12. The 1860s are prolific in the production of Indianism-inspired sculptures. In 1861, in the National Exhibition, a piece made of Brazilian carved wood is presented by I. G. W. Steffens: Desembarque de Pedro Álvares Cabral em Porto Seguro (Pedro Alvares Cabral Disembarking in Porto Seguro). In 1862, a great monument by Louis Rochet is inaugurated in honor of Dom Pedro I, and Leon Despres de Cluny produces Família de selvagens atacados por uma serpente (Family of Savages Attacked by a Snake). In 1866, Cândido Caetano de Almeida Reis sends from Paris his first work produced during his scholarship at the Fine Arts Academy, O Paraíba (The Paraíba). Two years later, Karl Linde exhibits a carved work in wax at the Fine Arts General Exhibition, Combate de dois índios (Two Indians Fighting). In the 1870s, the commemorative medal honoring the Lei do Ventre Livre (“Free Womb” Abolitionist Law) is produced; Índio em repouso (Indian at Rest) and À espreita (Lurking), by Rodolfo Bernardelli, and Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire) by Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro. Finally, during the 1880s, the number of Indianism-inspired sculptures produced starts decreasing; one highlight from this phase is A Faceira (Provocative Girl) by Rodolfo Bernardelli and the six fluvial representations shown in the Brazilian hall of the Paris Universal Exhibit in 1889.

Shapes and uses of the indigenous image

13. Differently from painting, Indianist sculptures are very rarely inspired on literature. There is only one single example of this kind of artwork, which unfortunately has been lost: the author, Francisco Elídio Pânfiro, professor of the Fine Arts Academy, is said to have been producing the series of bas-relief works of which it is part at the moment of his early death in 1852. They were inspired on the novel Caramurú, written by the friar José de Santa Rita Durão and also the source of inspiration for Jules Le Chevrel (1862) and for Victor Meirelles to paint Paraguassú and Diogo Alvares Corre e Moema (1866).

14. Historical references, frequently found in paintings portraying the discovery and evangelization of the territory, are seldom represented in sculpture. In paintings from the 1840’s, though, there are many examples: Rafael Mendes de Carvalho, who painted Elevação da cruz pelos selvagens (Indians Raising the Holy Cross) in 1842; Manuel Joaquim de Melo Corte Real, with Nóbrega e seus companheiros (Nobrega and his Fellows) in 1843; or A primeira missa celebrada em São Vicente no ano de 1532 (The First Mass Celebrated in Sao Vicente in 1532) by Rugendas; and Victor Meireles’ paradigmatic work of art A primeira missa no Brasil (The First Mass in Brazil), whose sketch was exhibited in the General Fine Arts Exhibition in 1859. Only one work, presented in 1861 at the National Exhibition, represented this occasion: the unknown artist I. G. W. Steffens produced a relief piece carved in Brazilian wood depicting o Desembarque de Pedro Álvares Cabral em Porto Seguro (Pedro Alvares Cabral Disembarking in Porto Seguro). The scene is clearly divided into two parts: on the right side, the expedition is arriving; on the left side, we can see the forest and the indians watching the scene. In the center, in the foreground, a group of three Portuguese men bearing the Royal Standard, one of them with his hand raised up to the sky. Just behind them, Portuguese men help indians to lift up a big wooden cross. The treatment given to the indian figures is very similar to Victor Meireles’, but the illustration through which we know this work of art does not allow for further appreciation of these figures individually.

15. An exceptional case is a sculpture group which is found in the hall of Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of the Republic, traditionally attributed to the sculptor Francisco Manoel Chaves Pinheiro and identified as his work Ubirajara[8]. However, a review was published in the press about the winner of the golden medal in the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1862 that raises doubts about this attribution:

16. The group by Mr. Després is impressive. The indian, standing up, bent over his left hip, looks surprised by a rattlesnake that threatens him. There is an arrow in his hand; since he is too close to be able to use the bow, the indian is ready to defend himself with a, let’s say, one on one fight. This battle, expressed with such clarity, would terrify the spectator’s spirit had it not been for the woman, hiding behind the indian with a child in her arms, reflecting such confidence in her expression.[9]

17. The French sculptor Leon Després de Cluny was quite active in Rio de Janeiro as of 1861 at least, and for more than 25 years, and deserved the artistic recognition he received on many occasions. It seems that he was the artist chosen by the Baron of Nova Friburgo, António Clemente Pinto, to execute this work of art. There is not much information available about either this commission or the level of involvement of the client in the final result, but the piece is distinguished by its classicism, by the artist’s devotion to old school painting, which brought him apart from the nature of his subject, leading to a poor representation of the indigenous type.[10] As of 1863, the interest in the indigenous type becomes one of the main concerns of the critics, one which will be recurrent in other representations, such as O Paraíba (The Paraiba), produced by Cândido Caetano de Almeida Reis in 1866.

18. The construction of the indian figure by the French artist stands out for its syncretism, with references coming from different origins. In a pyramidal composition, the artist gathers the most typical indian attributes: a feather skirt and arrows, together with stereotyped vegetation and hunted animals which, contrary to Rochet’s work, lack a more detailed study of the local characteristics.

19. On the other hand, the absence of an indian headdress - the “cocar” - catches one’s attention, and the hairstyle chosen by Despres, which reminds us of hairstyles more common to North American indians, even more. Likewise, the fur the figure carries on his shoulders does not belong to the Brazilian indian’s typical garments. A strong classical influence was noticed by critics, especially in the female figure, which is perceived as representing Faith, beautiful and immutable. Thus, a completely original representation was created in the Brazilian artistic scene whose North American references lead us to think of the little known work of the sculptor Ferdinand Pettrich, present in Brazil as of the 1840s. During his stay in Brazil, Pettrich produced an outstanding collection of busts of North American Indians based on sketches made in the United States, and this collection must have had a great repercussion in the art scene. It is worth remembering that this is one of the first Indianist artworks: an indian as an allegorical representation of Brazil which was offered as a gift by the sculptor in 1845. This piece was not preserved, but taking into consideration the collection held in the Vatican Museums, in which there is a concern for capturing the facial features and singularities of each individual, it is acceptable to believe that it was this very concern that guided the creation of the image of the Brazilian indian. This attempt, if that was the case, will reach its climax in the work of another European sculptor, the French artist Louis Rochet.

The ethnographic proposal. A discontinuous path.

20. Undoubtedly, the most famous work is the monument in honor of Dom Pedro I, produced in 1862 by the French sculptor Louis Rochet[11], based upon the initial project by João Maximiano Mafra. A model for this monument was presented in the 1861 Art Exhibition in Paris when, in the publication L ́Artiste, Francis Aubert appointed Rochet as the first sculptor to face the difficult task of rendering indians, having succeeded in doing so despite the lack of a tradition of works on this theme. Aubert says the figures “showed a firm dignity merged with the typical melancholy of people of the represented ethnicity” and closes the review by saying: “ils sont vrais, et pourtant ils sont beaux"[12], substantiating the most important attribute highlighted by critics: the verisimilitude of the indigenous facial features, which Rochet studied, directly or indirectly, through illustrations, in his ranch in Rio de Janeiro, in 1856. Many busts based on these studies and reflecting different ethnicities, are held at the Museum of Man, in Paris.

21. Characterized by novelty, O Paraíba (The Paraíba) - a work produced in Paris by a Brazilian pupil of Rochet´s only four years after the inauguration of the monument to Dom Pedro I – is considered as the starting point of a kind of sculpture with a "more intentional Indianist character, associated to Romanticism".[13] The indian proposed by Candido Caetano Reis de Almeida is recognizable as an indian without the need of any kind of attributes, since the artist "portrays the indian figure with a more natural than symbolic essence."[14]

22. Paraíba diverts from the usual representation at that time of the figure of the indian: he is neither the mythic founder of the nation, nor the image of the Empire or the representation of the territory; the image is neither inspired on literature nor does it have a more decorative side. Following in Rochet´s footsteps, the artist´s work surpasses his master's, which already showed a concern for the individualized features of the different indigenous groups when modelling his "river groups". As Paulo Knauss[15] clarifies, Rochet exemplifies very well the interest in anthropology that was gaining space in Europe during this period. Other sculptors, such as Carpeaux, were also concerned with adopting a more athropological view when translating into their work the features they were studying, an idea which appears even more strongly in the sketches on wood made for this work by Almeida Reis[16], where posture and treatment are freer.

23. The sculptor’s bold proposal consisted of releasing the indian figure from all of its traditional attributes and presenting it as an individual work, apart from any artistic group or iconographic program, as we can see in the renditions of Gênio do Brasil (Brazil’s Genie) or in the aforementioned monument of Dom Pedro I. In the former, made in 1857 on the façade of the Cassino Fluminense, the indian is still a concept, the translation of a long tradition greatly charged with meaning, and in the latter, the indians are the territorial representation of Brazil. It is believed that Almeida Reis was inspired on one of the busts that can be found in the study for this monument to design the face of his "Paraíba". The indian is represented as an allegory, as a reflection of an idea or a concept; however, "O Paraíba" shows a new and different inspiration, even when it is understood as an allegory, since it loses such character by presenting an indian defined as "the most perfect model of the North American indian”[17], and thus, unveiling the concern of part of the critics for rendering the indians taking into account their particular features, even if generically.

24. The representations of rivers are one of the most prolific themes in Brazilian art, and it is one of the most iconographic topics related to renditions of indigenous peoples. The use of river allegories can already be found in 1817, during the celebrations of the arrival of Princess Leopoldina of Austria[18] to Rio de Janeiro, when the city's merchants ordered an arch to be built over the Rua dos Pescadores, under the direction of Grandjean de Montigny and Debret. The arch features two pedestals sustaining figures representing the Janeiro River, with the coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, as well as the Danube River, showing the eagles of the Empire, with the inscriptions Januarium and Danubios, a representation of the two Empires. In 1818, during the celebrations of Dom Joao VI in Rio de Janeiro, the Chamber of Commerce financed the construction of a lit triumphal arch executed by Grandjean de Montigny and Debret. In the middle of the arch, the Tejo and Janeiro Rivers were represented, showing the coat of arms of the United Kingdom sustained by a crown.[19] The Amazon River was represented in a bas-relief which stood on the tympanum of the Temple of Minerva at the coronation of Dom Joao VI, where it was possible to see "Neptune and the main rivers of the universe: the Danube, the Euphrates, the Nile and the Amazon” offering to the kings products from the regions through which the rivers flow. "[20]

25. During the Empire, several projects would contemplate these river figures, in many cases without further specifications about their appearance. One of the most important imperial public projects, unfortunately not executed, was conducted by Grandjean de Montigny. The artist designed a wide range of monuments that would be placed along the Campo da Aclamação (Acclamation Square, now Republic Square), where "nine fountains would be built, decorated with emblems or representations of the main rivers of Brazil."[21] As part of a large project to celebrate the Paraguay War, a composition was built showing "Eight different statues divided in groups of two, representing the main rivers of the Empire", [22]a work of art by F. A. Caminhoá and P. Bernard.[23]

26. But, at what point do these allegories begin to be dressed with feathers? In a drawing from the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro[24], a project to sketch a monument intended to be built in the Campo da Honra (Field of Honor) in memory of April 7, 1831, there are three river allegories on the base, and, according to Morales de los Rios, it would be crowned by the figure of an indian symbolizing Brazil.[25]

27. Undoubtedly, one of the representations in which the river gets closer, if not to the indian, at least to the traditional attributes of the representations of America, dressed in feathers, is the ephemeral balcony designed by Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre for the coronation of Dom Pedro II, having as a central detail an attic "crowned by a chariot in which Brazil’s Genie appears holding the horses’ reins with his left hand, and the Imperial Scepter with the right one"[26]. "On the northern side, the colossal statue representing the Amazon River is seated and leaning over an alligator, with a paddle in its left hand and a cornucopia full of Brazilian fruits in the right one. Mirroring this statue, on the southern side sits the statue of the Prata River holding the same attributes".[27] The chosen attributes are also to be found in the work of Rochet, enlarged and reinforced with indigenous facial features, once again following the emperor. According to Migliaccio, in the coronation balcony they are characterized as indians, representing the "historical role of these people in the historical process from evangelization to the proclamation of independence, as well as the role of rivers in the process of colonization and political unification of Brazil.”[28]

28. According to Lilia Moritz, the "coronation of Dom Pedro II, in 1841, was one of the biggest celebrations of the Empire, when allegories were created in order to represent the wishes of the country's political elite and the profile that the young Pedro should symbolize before the nation and, at the same time, the subjects of his Empire."[29] Thus, the presence of the Amazon and Prata Rivers serves, on the one hand, to demarcate the vast Brazilian territory, and on the other hand, to exalt the monarch capable of reigning over such a huge Empire. In addition to characterizing the new territory to the world, the river had already been used as a symbol in 1823 on Dom Pedro I’s coronation balcony in Pará, where America, together with Brazil, the Amazon and the Prata Rivers, proclaimed its new sovereign.[30]

The long tradition: the image of Brazil and the Empire

29. The Amazon and the Prata Rivers, the nation's image as a territory, were part of one of the Empire's most important and representative artefacts: the balcony of the coronation of Dom Pedro II, from 1841. At that time, according to Migliaccio:

30. the cultural policies of the Brazilian Court, guided by the choices of the young emperor and his circle, acquire a nationalist and Americanist character. The image of the country and the monarchy is separated from its past of Portuguese heritage, still present in the First Empire, and endorses the Catholic inspiration and the American character of the Constitutional Empire founded in the tropics. The image of the indian, used before as an allegory of the new state, acquires a new historical consistency as the founder of Brazil’s nationality and American identity.[31]

31. Since its discovery, the idea of Brazil has been associated with exuberant nature and exoticism, which is frequently linked to the indian figure as its primordial inhabitant. As noted by Knauss, "although the allegorical image of the indians had been used since the colonial period to identify the land of Brazil, it is only in the second half of the 19th century that the visual arts started participating in promoting the indian as an icon of the Empire of Brazil".[32]

32. The relationship between the image of the indian and the construction of the image of the Empire, in its various expressions, constitutes a recurring fact. The great monarchical events - pageantry, weddings, and coronations - form a field in which indians appear quite often. Works of art such as Cenário para o Bailado Histórico (Backdrop for a Historical Ballet) for the apotheosis of Dom João VI at the Royal Theatre of São Joao on May 13, 1818, and Pano de boca executado para a representação extraordinária dada no Teatro da corte por ocasião da Coroação do imperador dom Pedro I (Painting on Stage Backdrop for the Special Session at the Court Theater Celebrating the Coronation of Emperor Dom Pedro I)[33], 1822, by Jean-Baptiste Debret, illustrate the role of the indian in the national imagery. In the former, the indian is one of the pillars on which the king is sustained, representing one of the territories of the great Portuguese Empire, together with the personifications of the other territories. On the latter, the central figure of the emperor is replaced by an allegory representing the nation, surrounded by different elements of this nationality. There we can find indigenous figures on the left side - not under the central figure, but beside it. Even before the French Mission, the use of indigenous figures was recurrent in the monarchic works of art. In São João del Rei, a town in Minas Gerais state, "two genies dressed in helmets and headdresses adorned with feathers”[34] sustaining a crown and a scepter are part of the decoration of a throne offered by the city’s merchants in celebration of the coronation of Dom Pedro.

33. Celebrating one of the most important of such monarchic events, the coronation of Dom Pedro II, a commemorative medal was coined with the motto Ordo et felicitas, in which an indian of traditional representation crowns and legitimizes the emperor, who is sitting on the throne. According to Schwarcz[35], it is a feminine figure who crowns Dom Pedro and steps on a dragon; in this scene, the crown represents civilization, while the dragon represents barbarism. The image refers to an allegorical representation of Brazil who crowns the new emperor, a fact that is commonly associated with it. But in the Brazilian case, it is important to highlight another figure, almost a development of these national allegorical representations: the Gênio do Brasil (Brazil’s Genie). In 1865, the publication A Semana Ilustrada[36] offered the Emperor a heroic poem, written by Dr. Tito Nabuco de Araujo and illustrated by a lithography representing the Emperor crowned by Brazil’s Genie. The Genie appears as a male figure, sometimes an indian, with a character that distinguishes it from the Allegories of Brazil.[37]

34. Since the beginning of the presence of the Portuguese court in Brazil, both the figure of Brazil's Genie and the allegories of both Brazil and America have had particular roles and personalities. At the wedding party of Dom Pedro Carlos and Maria Teresa of Bragança, in 1810, the priest Luís Goncalves describes the presence of Brazil's Genie - an indian on horseback - as a differentiated figure, and he also describes an allegorical float exhibited during this party:

35. The composition, artificial and intricately decorated, was the model of a mountain on top of which stood the figure of ”America”: quiver over the shoulder and bow in hand, wearing a headdress with many colored feathers and an equally adorned loin-cloth”, it alluded to fake indians - Europeans in indian costumes - performing ritual dances.[38]

36. The allegory of America or Brazil is the result of a long tradition. In Brazil, it accepts and crowns the emperor, and it is protected by him, given its fragile and feminine character. However, the Genie appears with a male character, as a warrior and a guardian, treading on the hydra that represents anarchy and disunity, but also crowning the emperor. Thus, sometimes the functions of the allegory and the Genie are mixed in a single representation. On the medal coined in celebration of the coronation of Dom Pedro II, the indian figure, apparently female, crowns the emperor, but also steps on the hydra of anarchy. On some occasions, the Genie is represented by women, so there is not always a clear gender distinction, but more often than not the figure of the Genie is male, and appears closely related to the emperor and his functions. Both the Genie and the emperor are Brazil’s protectors, its tutelary angels; both of them are called Brazil's genies, and their functions are mixed to form a symbolic unity that attempts to unify the nation.

37. All in all, we are dealing with the construction of an image of the Empire, the Emperor and the nation identified with the monarchical model, and the Genie is an important part of this process. At first, it represents the territory, the peculiarities of the colony in the universe of the Portuguese Empire, with its functions and its own conception of the traditional allegory of America. But, gradually, the personality of the territory starts getting more defined, getting away from the Portuguese territory to establish a bond between the monarchy and Brazil:

38. With the alliance between America and Dom Pedro, which frequently appeared in the courts, the illuminations, the arches of triumph, a discontinuity was established between this prince and the Portuguese monarchy, weakening Afonso Henrique's authority and Dom Pedro's fidelity to Portugal, creating an irreversible bond between the prince and Brazil.[39]

39. Both the territory and the emperor are defined by their own, individualized, differentiated peculiarities of the new nation. One of the points of differentiation and union, although not exempt from criticism, was the symbol of the indian, which the Empire adopts promptly in a nationalist project, having an important presence in a little known artwork: the façade of the Casino Fluminense. This is the first major public permanent artistic creation in which the indian appears as the protagonist and main figure, a fact that would not be repeated until almost 20 years later, in the work Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire), 1874, by Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro.

40. The façade of the Cassino Fluminense, by Severo da Silva Lent, Quirino Antonio Vieira and João Duarte Morais was only inaugurated in 1860, but it was executed (at least its model) in 1857. It is a mature and lasting example of national representation in Brazil, where the ideas of territory, a nation under construction, a civilizing project and the Empire are joined together. This work features Brazil’s Genie, which is represented within a very strong Indianist trend since the beginning: it seems that the image of the Genie was recurrent in many festivities and performances, especially during the celebration of Brazil’s Independence Day, usually represented as an indian, as attested by the following text: "the savage, brave and bold, does not appear wearing headdresses and feathers, in the garments Brazil's Genie used to be shown in all the dramatic images with which national festivies would once be solemnized".[40] The idea of the Genie as an indian was very frequent, more than in visual representations, in political acts, theater performances and celebrations linked to the sovereign and his family, all of which were events of wide repercussion. However, the Genie was not represented by authentic indians, but by European people wearing costumes, in an appropriation of the indigenous attributes.

41. The first mention to Brazil's Genie dates back to 1810, already represented as an indian. When narrating the festivities of the wedding of the Infante Maria Teresa and Dom Pedro Carlos, the English merchant John Luccock states: "Brazil's Genie made its appearance, represented by an indian on horseback [...] ".[41]

42. Although there are not many preserved visual examples of the Genie, artists such as Auguste Taunay, in the work Grupo Alegórico da Restauração da Bahia[42] (Allegorical Group of Restoration of Bahia), understand it as a classic warrior carrying a shield with the head of Gorgona; Manuel de Araujo Porto-Alegre, on the other hand, understands it as a creature with wings with a laurel wreath, on the porch of the coronation of Emperor Pedro II, and as a winged indian carrying a special staff on the façade of the Cassino Fluminense. Of these works, only the façade understands the Genie as an indian. In the visual arts it is not common, but in the theater, especially with dramatic praise, and in the press, the Genie is often represented as indigenous. In the theater, reinforcing the idea of the indigenous Genie’s rendition produced a debate on the way the figure should be dressed. The representation with classic clothes generates the following comment: "This reference to classical culture would be excusable in Russia or China, but everyone knows that the caboclos in Brazil do not wear this kind of garment."[43] Thus, the Genie is understood as a caboclo and no longer a “savage” indian, but as a half-breed and civilized indian. Other garments refer more to the interpretation of the indian as wild, a symbol of an outdated civilization. "Brazil's Genie, during the singing of Gianinni’s opera A Harmonia Celestial no Brasil (Celestial Harmony in Brazil), leaves his cave wearing a garment and weapons that symbolize the savage state and civilization"[44]. Even in civil patriotic celebrations, the Genie is represented as a feminine indian figure:

43. At 9 am on March 24, after leaving the house of the member Pedro de Azevedo, the "Volunteers of the Country” went to the Church of the Rosary marching in procession. At the forefront of the group, the majestic young lady Rosinha de Azevedo, dressed in an indian garment, symbolized Brazil's Genie, carrying the flag of the "Volunteers".[45]

44. Brazil's Genie is thereby inserted in a genealogy of indigenous representation, being simultaneously the symbol of the Empire and the Emperor. It can be noticed that the Empire makes an effort to create its own image:

45. Thus, the message contained in the façade is a complex manifest of political, cultural and artistic concerns of the Empire, the materialization of its civilizing project. The national concern is the main axis of the whole group. The national concern as art, as the model of country the Empire proposes, as the attempt to create a suitable image for that young nation, which will have its climax in the work of Chaves Pinheiro, Alegoria do Império brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire), in which an indian occupies the place of the Emperor and wears his emblems.[46]

46. The sculpture Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire) or Cabloco em barro, symbolisando o Brasil (Caboclo in clay, symbolizing Brazil),[47] modeled in clay by Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro in 1874, in real-life size, and kept in the Museum of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro[48], grants the indian the main role in the composition. The indian and the Empire merge into a single figure, destined to be a public representation of the Empire, designed "to be exhibited in a public square, made of bronze, three times bigger than the real size"[49]; although in the end it was placed on the stairway of the National Treasury until the beginning of the Republic[50]. A representation on the citizens themselves, in the form of public sculpture, legitimates and continues the Indianist models emerging from the pages of the press.[51]

47. Chaves produced the most emblematic document of his generation, by embedding in the title of his work the intention of the Indianist project. With the same posture as the emperor in his official image elaborated by Pedro Américo, which portrays the speech in the Throne Hall, Chaves' indian carries the monarchy scepter instead of his weapon, a shield with the imperial coat of arms instead of his cudgel. The feather headdress is on the head, but it is the king's robe that covers the "natural nudity" of this "noble and pure symbol of our origin."[52]

48. The image of the indian proposed by Pinheiro is defined as "one of the most idealized indigenous renditions of the country",[53] "as if he had disguised a statue of Apollo with an indigenous garment"[54], "a Greek statue dressed in a loin-cloth."[55] It seems clear, as Knauss points out, defining the work as a "clear classicizing exercise in building the indian image"[56], that classicism was the choice of the artist, who creates a static male nude, strongly alludes to Greco-Roman art. Despite the work displays a general classicism, a direct view of it, more specifically of the face of the indian represented, shows that it does not follow classical canons, even considering that the work is not constituted through a detailed study of his ethnic features. The slightly slanted eyes, high and prominent cheekbones, the big nose and the protuberant chin do not match classic features, but do not characterize an ethnographic study either.

49. The symbolic character of this depiction was highlighted for its obvious resemblance to representations of the emperor, such as the work of Pedro Américo[57] Dom Pedro II na Abertura da Assembleia Geral (Dom Pedro II at the opening of the General Assembly), in 1873, made just one year before Chaves Pinheiro’s work. Another sculptural work also deserves to be mentioned for having influenced Pinheiro’s choices is the large standing effigy of Pedro II sculpted in marble in 1844 by the Danish sculptor Ferdinand Pettrich. The effigy seems to have been cast in bronze, although there is some dissent over the issue, and it was presented during the first National Exhibition of 1861. In both cases, the position of the emperor is very similar to the Brazilian Empire Allegory, replacing the sword by the shield with the imperial coat of arms.

50. Thus, in this dilated relationship between the indian and the imperial image, a parallel can be drawn between the work of Chaves Pinheiro and the façade, both considered fruits of one same desire. In the latter, the Genie, representing the Empire, is even more concerned about the political stability of the Empire; in the Empire Allegory, once the political sphere is consolidated, there is a concern with the artistic field, performing the same process. Both are images of the Empire, two representations of imperial aspirations.

51. In the search for indigenous representations proposed by the present study, it seems clear that most works were not visual works of art, but "ephemeral creations" such as theatrical plays, civic celebrations, pieces of literature, articles, parades and imperial celebrations that shaped the image of the indian. Even though the role of such representations is difficult to evaluate due to their very ephemeral nature, it is a key element in the construction and production of prototypes and images. Knowing these representations is extremely important for a better understanding of larger phenomena and productions, and for understanding their role and their degree of responsibility in imagetic conformations.

52. An interesting drawing by Miguel Dutra shows a triumphal arch topped by a river allegory as an indian holding a flag of the Brazilian Empire, thus uniting the representation of the river to the figure that intended to represent the Empire. Unfortunately, there is no information about when or where this arch was made or located. These details could offer us valuable information to understand Indianism. Nevertheless, a drawing of another arch with some similar features was made in 1848 for the arrival of Dom Pedro II, so this example is considered to be both an antecedent to Rochet’s river allegories, and a witness of an older tradition.

53. Continuing with ephemeral representations, which are less official, Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire) is an example that establishes interesting relationships with a number of symbolic representations published by the press in the 1860s, in which the country, the nation, and various provinces are represented as indigenous men, women and sometimes quite indefinite figures, whose gender is unclear. One depiction by Henry Fleuiss, one of the key players in the popularization of the national image as an indigenous figure, was published in the Semana Illustrada on April 16, 1865; it shows an allegory of the Empire which corresponds almost identically to Chaves Pinheiro’s piece, but in a sitting position. It is also necessary to consider that during the War of Paraguay, patriotic feelings are intensified and the image of the indian becomes a recurrent representation of the country. In the opinion of Murilo de Carvalho, representing the nation as an indian became quite common during the Empire.[58] Studying the publications of the illustrated press during the War of Paraguay, the author shows that the emperor or the crown were rarely represented, replaced by the figure of the indian. During this period, there is a substantial change in the conception of patria. The War of Paraguay is a remarkable event that united Brazilians as a nation against a common enemy, and so representations of the motherland, the nation or the Empire started coming out in the press more often.

The indian and his image: front and back

54. Like two sides of the same coin, the indians were seen either as "decadent" and "rude", or "beautiful" and "innocent"[59], a possible symbol of the nation or a problem for its development. This had been happening for a long time, since, already in the 1850s, the historian Varnhagen opposed those who stated, or at least believed that "our indians were the real Brazilian Puritans, and the most legitimate representatives, in the past, of nationality today”[60]. After a long text dedicated to refuting this idea, he concludes that:

55. the indians are not the owners of Brazil, and the name Brazilian does not even apply to them, for they are savages: they could not be civilized without the use of force, which has not been as abused as it has been claimed; and finally, on no account are they to serve as role models in the past or the present, concerning feelings of patriotism or representations of nationality.[61]

56. The symbolic aspect and reality, the symbol and the man, will be two aspects difficult to combine, a dichotomy that would become Indianism’s inseparable companion.

Savage and civilized Indians: civilization as a target to be reached

57. The issue of civilizing indians was a constant and fundamental idea during the Empire. Following the theories about the perfectibility of man, "when human beings are first placed in the world to live in a natural state, a feeling breaks out in them of intrinsic desire for development, which urges them to the mastery over the physical world, to material improvement and moral elevation"[62]. Thus, the indians should become a part of the western civilized society, abandoning their habits and beliefs. This process was of great importance for the Empire, which wanted the incorporation of this population not only due to philanthropic interests, but also to the desire to increase the population and, therefore, promote the development of the country. In 1847, two great strategies were presented to these purposes. The first one is inviting foreigners to live in the country, and the second one is welcoming “the indigenous groups that wander in our forests.”[63] That way, they will quit being hordes, wild indians[64], barbarians or non-domesticated indians, around 800,000 individuals in 1847, to become civilized, gentle or domestic indians, about 200,000 in the same year:[65]

58. The village of Sao Pedro in Cabo Frio used to be composed of indians from the Goytacas tribe, whose descendants, already in the third or fourth generation, today cannot be singled out and statistically counted as pertaining to a particular group.[66]

59. With the aim of civilizing indians in mind, many investments were made. The aforementioned records and the amount invested in the venture show how this was a constant concern for the authorities. From the general budget related to the 1848-1849 period, for example, 32,000 contos de reis were destined to the "catechesis and civilization of indians”, expressed in these terms, a sum which was higher than the budget received by the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, 20,096 contos de reis, and almost as high as the amount provided to the Secretariat of State, 33,200 contos de reis.

60. Therefore, with this policy in place, the indians lost their particular condition and became part of the population, without specific differences. The means to achieve this goal were, first of all, the religious missions, which evangelized the indians in order to to make them acceptable for the society; once this was done, they taught the indians the manners and moral principles of civilized men, in order to allow them to have access to the second tool of civilization: labor, which, from the 17th century on, came to distinguish the "good" from the "bad" indians. The Dutch painter Albert Eckhout, between 1641 and 1643, painted Homem Tapuia, Mulher Tapuia, Homem Tupi e Mulher Tupi (Tapuia Man, Tapuia Woman, Tupi Man and Tupi Woman), which are among the first works to focus on the observation of the individual, more than previous indigenous representations, which had responded to topics, generalities and constructions about the South American natives as a single category, seeing them as different and unknown individuals, as exotic cannibals, following the traditional representations of America, like the one by de Cesare Rippa, who showed the image of America as an armed feminine indian figure. In the case of Ekhout, his works

61. contain an allegory based on common sense of this time: the possible domestication of the Tupis and the irreducible ferocity of the Tapuias. Thus, the Tupi man and woman are shown here with their production (nets and baskets), working for the colonial settlements, while the Tapuia indians (which were not cannibals, like the Tupis) are shown carrying mutilated hands and feet, and surrounded by venomous animals.[67]

62. This idea would persist for a long time. In 1874, General Couto de Magalhães, convinced of the inevitable extinction of the indian race, proposes again, in the speech Region and Wild Races he made at the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute, using labor as a strategy to integrate indians to the civilized society, and for such their language and habits should be studied[68]. This savagery-civilization relationship can also be found in the United States, where the indians have no choice but to fit in with history, with two options: to die or to adapt.[69]

63. Such was the faith in changing the evolutionary stage of the indian race that a study of cranial characteristics, based on the principles of phrenology, tried to prove the benefits of civilization on the configuration of the skull itself, introducing a fourth group in the theory of races: in addition to white, black and indian, the Civilized Indian becomes a new and differentiated category:

64. It is advisable to collect skulls of all races of natives, and to take the mould of some heads of living people, in order to gather information so Moraes can verify the most positive feature in Gall’s system: if there is truth in this doctrine, craneoscopy should find remarkable changes between the various protuberances of the skull of wild indians and the ones of civilized indians or mestizos, which should be more similar to the predominant race.[70]

65. However, some authors questioned the Indians’ capability, portraying them as inferior beings, not able to deal with the civilized society and, therefore, doomed to total extinction. One of these authors, the historian Varnhagen, says that "there are extinct species in the animal kingdom; it seems that the indian race, due to its physical organization, not being able to progress in the civilized environment, is doomed to this fatal outcome."[71] But not all the authors followed along these lines[72]; some tried to approximate the indians to the Europeans, affirming that "there is no doubt that the indians belong to the Caucasian race. They have a noble face, a little effeminate, a distinguished profile, almost Greek, a slender body shape, a nice way of walking, slim extremities.”[73]

66. For other authors, such as Silvio Romero, the national symbol could be found in the mestizo. Silvio demonstrates the mistake of celebrating the indian as a national symbol of Brazilian nativism, instead of the one that should be in fact the assertion of the cultural difference, according to the statement of the Brazilian Volksgeist: the mestizo.[74]

67. There is a particular work of art which, based on its description, seems to allude to the situation of the civilized indians, and which becomes one of the few examples that we can consider to be based on the surrounding reality. The artist Rodolfo Bernardelli was inspired on the surrounding environment to create Índio em repouso (Indian at rest), also called Saudade da Tribo (Missing the tribe), and modeled in 1874:

68. It is an indian; he has completed his task; sitting on a rock, resting his weary limbs, he still holds the mattock, and remembers his country, and misses his tribe, from where he was taken away by the catechesis to bring him to live in the world of civilized men: labor.[75]

69. This work reflects the civilizing concerns of the Empire, but the vision of the artist, or at least the reception of the work[76], goes beyond these ideas, worrying about the Other, about the effect that the intended improvement was causing on this individual or group, an improvement which was also analyzed in a scientific way, taking into consideration the effects that the nostalgia produced in civilized indians:

70. [...] The nostalgia of the indians abruptly taken away from vastness and their tribes is manifested by phenomena which are less alarming in appearance, but which are physiologically more severe: loss of appetite, secretion disorders, visceral disorders, hallucinations, hepatitis, a mix of sadness and bleak melancholy, edemas, calm followed by taciturn mood; they refuse everything that is offered, they feel bothered with no apparent cause, they remain silent... If someone speaks to them in their native language, they take a deep breath and feel happy. [...] In this state of mind, whose phosphorescence is colored by the magnificent landscapes of the Brazilian solitudes, it is a vain effort to seek for a more active agent; children of nature, they suffer such great physical and moral influences when submitted to civilization that the corollary of this hyperexcitability provoked nostalgia, the most beautiful characteristic of such intimate and generous frankness.[77]

71. The sculptor presents himself, as stated by Silva, as an innovative artist, along the lines of the works of Almeida Reis and Rochet. The critics of the time praised the fidelity of the presented figure, showing the characteristics of the race, but without any economy that might damage the greatness of the subject, or any exaggeration that would make it absurd[78]. And the critic notices the ideological and critical content of the piece, and the problem it reflects. That indian, with his working tools and a Christian cross around his neck, thus civilized, misses his land, his identity. He is alone, but the image is a composition, it represents an idea, it tells a story, that lonely figure expresses an entire poem.[79] Bernardelli expresses himself, or at least this is the way the critics see his work, like the traveling artists of the first half of the 19th century, who narrated their experiences, not always real, through drawings and paintings with a certain documental nature. It is a different artistic experience that reflected an important objective for the Empire and the civilized nation.

Indianism after Indianism: inventions and reinventions

72. In the present text, we did not go further than the 1870’s in our analysis, and this limitation is not accidental, for, although we cannot pinpoint a precise turning point, a concrete date from which to define the beginning and the end of something, substantial changes in the understanding and use of Indianism during the 1870's can be observed. It may be said that in this decade the idea of the noble savage no longer made sense; it was seen as an outdated symbol, a construction from the time of independence[80]. Gradually, the "material evidence of the reality of indian life required a reassessment of the utility of the indian figure as a representative of the modern nation"[81]. The year 1874 was an interesting year from our point of view, bringing together three major productions: in the sculptural field, Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire) and Índio em repouso (Indian at rest), and in the literary field Ubirajara (Ubirajara) by José de Alencar, which constitute three sides of the same phenomenon.

73. Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire) is the climax of a long relationship process between the Empire and the indian image, which is rooted in the traditional representations of America, in line with European tradition, and intensified by the way the concept of homeland, of nation is understood. This concept was influenced by the War of Paraguay, with a widespread dissemination of indigenous images symbolizing the nation, the Empire, the provinces, the country, etc. On the other hand, Índio em repouso (Indian at rest) shows a different perspective: it is neither historical, nor allegorical, symbolic or representative. The indian is seen as an individual, not as a concept.

74. Rodolpho Bernardelli managed perhaps to strike a balance in the representation of the indigenous figure, respecting "the fidelity of the presented figure, showing the characteristics of the race, but without any economy that might damage the greatness of the subject, or any exaggeration that would make it absurd",[82] something that Almeida Reis could not reach. Despite being classified as the most correct model of the American indian[83], or precisely for this reason, Almeida Reis’ work did not find success or acceptance at the time of its creation, eight years earlier than Bernardelli's successful work, which would be chosen by the Imperial Academy to be sent to the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia, representing Brazilian art. It is significant that this work by Bernardelli represented not a savage, but a civilized indian, a mestizo, a person of mixed race, as promoted by the Empire:

75. a policy of fraternity and brotherhood based on miscegenation. This type of racial policy became one of the ideological-aesthetic formulas peculiar to the Brazilian "being". Miscegenation as a differentiating and, therefore, national factor.[84]

76. Unfortunately, Bernardelli’s piece was lost, depriving us of an essential source of information, and leaving space for speculation. It seems this work was able to convince both the Imperial Academy and critics who were eager for renovations, and to become a mirror in which the different groups could observe their longings and desires.

77. In the same year, José de Alencar published his work Ubirajara (Ubirajara), seen "as Alencar’s protest against those who announced the death of Indianism, and as the refinement of an aesthetic and ideological program that had begun with O Guarani (The Guarani Indian), [...]"[85]. Alencar, then, was defending a program started in 1857, precisely the year in which the model of the façade of the Casino Fluminense was concluded and appeared in the press, confronting those who claimed the death of Indianism.

78. The death of Indianism, taking into account the work produced during this period, should be understood more like a continuous reinvention, since it implies a change of direction. After the first half of the 1870’s, painting takes back its primacy. Between 1878 and 1884, great pictorial Indianist compositions are created: Exéquias de Atala (Funeral of Atala) by Rodrigues Duarte; Exéquias de Camorim (Funeral of Camorim) by Antônio Firmino Monteiro; A elevação da cruz (The elevation of the cross) by Pedro Peres, Lindoia (Lindoia) and Iracema (Iracema) by Jose Maria de Medeiros; Marabá (Maraba), A morte de Atalá (Atala’s Death) and O último Tamoio (The Last Tamoio) by Rodolfo Amoedo, among others. This pictorial multitude contrasts with a scarcity of sculptures, whose works produced at the time are virtually reduced to A Faceira (Provocative Girl). This work, by Rodolpho Bernardelli, has a new inspiration, different from the standards seen in sculpture so far, and, according to Cavalcanti, had the intention of pleasing the public in order to sell for a higher price.[86]

79. Indianist sculptures, thus, predominate between the early 1860s and the late 1870s, between two periods dominated by painting. Initially focused on the history and evangelization of the indians as well as on literature, they will later become strongly inspired on literature. Gradually, though, the indigenous image leaves the literary and symbolic fields to become a more realistic figure, as it has always been a concern to understand the indians from an anthropological point of view, an interest which has one of its most important moments in the Anthropological Exhibition of 1882, in Rio de Janeiro. At that time, Décio Villares’ paintings portray indians as individuals with proper names: savage and civilized indians who, once named, come into existence. Also, the collected sculptures of these indians have a very different nature, since they are moulded in papier mache by Leon Despres of Cluny, who almost 20 years earlier made Família de índios atacados por uma serpente (Family of Savages Attacked by a Snake). The comparison between the two works shows that times were undoubtedly changing. Some of these effigies, preserved at the National History Museum in Rio de Janeiro, and also by the lens of the photographer Marc Ferrez, would respond to very different interests:

80. The collectionism of the late 19th century sought to avoid losing not only the culture of the indigenous people, at the time understood as doomed to extinction, but also what their artefacts could reveal about the origin and evolution of humankind. Thus, these objects were considered valuable due to their ability to testify to the primitive stages of human culture, as well as a to common past which confirmed the European triumph and superiority.[87]

81. The history and anthropology involved in the indigenous process could not share the symbolic and allegorical image of the indian. This common origin, so intensively desired, failed to convince or to unite the population, arousing strong criticism precisely for the literary nature of its inspiration, which was oblivious to any reality. It created a totally imbalanced situation between what art proposed and, for example, what history claimed - at least some of its schools of thought. Just like the positivists, who also did not share the idealized view of the indian and proposed a regeneration of the "fetishistic tribes"[88]. According to them, the idealization of the indigenous figure as the national symbol was a wrong choice:

82. It is necessary to fight this obsession to which Gonçalves Dias contributed powerfully, which reduces our current and future aesthetic movement to the idealization of wildlife. We are not Tapuias, we are Portuguese, Western Europeans; our traditions are rooted in the Old Continent. In our tradition, the indian only becomes a modifying element because of the interratial mix that took place with white and black people.[89]

83. Thus, from the 1870s onward, the indigenous scenario acquires a greater complexity with strong input from scientific and anthropological trends, and more modern views, linked to political and social movements, which, in some way, were responsible for announcing the death of Indianism, or at least of a kind of Indianism, as Alencar pointed out.

Final considerations

84. Indianism and Indianisms, multiple visions, developments, appropriations and the use of the image of the primordial inhabitants of Brazil, a symbol of something purely national, the image of the Empire, country, homeland or nation, of the wild and barbaric creature, of the mestizos and the civilized indians, of the decadent race, of the object of fascination for civilized citizens, of museum objects, of the object of scientific study, of the thousands of uses and conceptions of the indians.

85. Since the arrival of Europeans in America, the indian is considered a symbol connected to the American land and, therefore, to the Brazilian land, both as a colony and as an independent territory. The allegories of America and Brazil, O Gênio do Brasil (Brazil's Genie), river representations, constitute privileged themes in the representation of the indigenous figure, but they are also used for historical and decorative compositions. Such is the repercussion these images reach that they start appearing as illustrations in adverstisements for a number of products and populating literary creations, the pages of the press, works of art. But what is the role of sculpture in this Indianism and its representations?

86. Tracing the genealogy of works of art which show representations of indians, several main branches can be distinguished: portraits of the indian in his natural environment, as an inhabitant and an intrinsic element of Brazil's natural exuberance; works of historical inspiration and representations of the catechesis; works of literary inspiration and others presenting the indian as a symbol and representation. These different inspirations will vary in the level of "naturalism" of the indian figure, ranging from detailed observations of the traits of different ethnic groups, such as in the works of Louis Rochet and Almeida Reis, to the idealization of the indian, like in the European allegories about America.

87. Between 1840 and 1889, it is possible to single out three different periods in the Fine Arts: the first period, between the 1840s and the 1860s, is dominated by painting, but with a strong presence of sculptural production; the second period is dominated by sculpture, between the 1860s and the first half of the 1870s; and a third period is divided into two different parts: the first one showing a pictorial supremacy, mainly inspired on literature; and the second part with an "anthropological" approach.

88. Sculpture presents some particular characteristics that, in our opinion, separate it from painting and literature by creating its own personality and purpose. It is significant that the vast majority of imperial sculptures were created within a very precise chronological period, between 1845 and 1875, and with an especially relevant concentration of works between 1857 and 1875: the Frontão do Cassino Fluminense (Façade of the Cassino Fluminense), 1857; Desembarque de Pedro Alvares Cabral em Porto Seguro (Pedro Álvares Cabral Disembarking in Porto Seguro), 1861; Monumento a Dom Pedro I (Monument to Dom Pedro I), 1862; Família de selvagens atacados por uma serpente (Family of Savages Attacked by a Snake), 1862; O Paraíba (The Paraíba), 1866; Combate de dois índios (Two Indians Fighting), 1868; Índio em repouso (Indian at rest) and Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire), both from 1874, and À espreita (Lurking) from 1875[90]. This "sculptural period" between 1878 and 1884 establishes the foundation for the full development of pictorial Indianism.

89. It is interesting to try to determine approximately some significant dates for this sculptural period. In 1856, a great Indianist novel was published with direct support of the emperor: A confederação dos Tamoios (The Confederation of Tamoios) by Gonçalves de Magalhães, and in 1875, Ubirajara (Ubirajara) by José de Alencar. The development of the Indianist novel is produced around the same dates as the sculptural period, and they follow almost parallel paths, with little influence from literature on sculpture, which further reinforces the idea of a clear differentiation. This distinction is even clearer if we notice that painting is inspired on literature during this period, based on Atalá (Atala) by François-René de Chateaubriand, Fuga de Atalá (Atala’s Escape) and Exéquias de Atalá (Atala’s Funeral) by Frederick Tirone in 1860; and on Caramurú (Caramuru) by Jose Santa Rita Durão, as well as Paraguassú and Diogo Alvares Correa by Jules Le Chevrel in 1861; or Moema by Victor Meirelles in 1866. On many occasions, the paintings showed in the General Exhibition of Fine Arts were complemented by a small literary or historical text, explaining the composition or its inspiration, and bringing together painting and literature, or painting and history, as it was the case with A primeira missa no Brasil (The First Mass in Brazil).

90. Sculpture rarely seeks its inspiration on literature, history, or everyday scenes, and focuses on symbolic-representative depictions. Brasil como um índio (Brazil as an Indian), by Pettrich in 1845 is similar to Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire), 1874, which marks the boundaries of the "sculptural period". Alegoria do Império Brasileiro was designed as a public monument and features important indigenous representations. An indian is the protagonist of a public monument for the first time in 1857, in the façade of the Cassino Fluminense, inaugurated in 1860; and later, in a great imperial monument: the group dedicated to Don Pedro by Louis Rochet, inaugurated in 1862. Major initiatives show the indian as a protagonist or a secondary element. The French artists Louis Rochet and Leon Despres of Cluny, Almeida Reis, who produces his work in Paris, the Danish artist Ferdinand Pettrich, all of them have a great responsibility in the construction of the indigenous sculptural image, just like other foreign artists who also produce Indianist works, such as Karl Linde and Steffens.

91. A peculiarity of these works is the absence of proper names. Their names allude to allegories of the Empire, river representations, Brazil's Genie, generic indigenous representations, families of indians, indigenous scenes of hunting, fishing and fighting. There are no characterized individuals, even if fictitious, such as Lindoia, Moema or any other character. The sculptured figures have no names, depriving the indians of any individual character, turning them into myths. By resorting to the definition of myth: any character, event or particularity which, despite not being real, symbolizes a generalization that must be admitted, we can understand how the indians are deprived of individuality in favor of a mythical or symbolic construction.

92. The oscillation between myth and reality was a constant in the Indianist movement, as we can see in the last major exhibition of the Empire, the World’s Fair in Paris 1889. In this exhibition, the latest Indianist-inspired sculptures of the Empire were presented: six river allegories located at the entrance of the Brazilian pavilion. In the Philadelphia International Exhibition of 1876, among the works presented by the Imperial Academy, the works of Rodolfo Bernardelli Índio em repouso (Recollection of the tribe) and À espreita (The indian peeping[91]) were selected. However, in the painting section, most of the works depicted landscapes, war scenes, a portrait of the emperor and other scenes, as well as A primeira missa do Brasil (The First Mass in Brazil), of historical theme, where the main focus is the discovery of Brazil and the catechesis of the indians, in line with other previous works, like those of Mendes de Carvalho or Rugendas. According to Schwarcz, "passive and idealized indians form the scene without changing it fundamentally: they are almost an element attached to the tropical landscape.[92]" They are figures that do not interfere with the scene, figures that are not the main theme, like they will be later in other compositions such as Brasil como um índio (Brazil as an Indian) by Pettrich, 1845, Frontão do Cassino Fluminense (Façade of Cassino Fluminense, 1857), Moema (1866) by Victor Meireles, O Paraíba (The Paraíba, 1866) by Almeida Reis, or Índio em repouso (Indian at rest) by Bernardelli, and Alegoria do Império Brasileiro (Allegory of the Brazilian Empire, 1874), among others.

93. The Paris Exhibition appears as the end of an era for the Imperial policy, which featured exhibitions illustrating the progress of nations, with "the Western world represented the peak of civilization and the indigenous cultures, the past of humankind.[93]" For that event, the Brazilian pavilion was decorated with allegories[94] of the Amazon, Tocantins, Madeira, São Francisco, Parnaíba and Paraná rivers[95]. As old fellows, Indianism and river representations meet again, to introduce Brazil to the world. Six classical figures, adorned with feathers, weapons, shovels and fruits and vegetation from the land become again a symbol, a representation, resuming a long tradition.

94. This will be one of the last occasions during the imperial period in which the indian will be used in sculpture, returning precisely to its old scenarios: river images as territorial representations, or as a representation of Brazilians themselves, but the indian will appear continuously with multiple functions, being converted into "a kind of malleable mass, according to the interests of the various groups of the country"[96], causing a series of "projects" or different proposals, a multitude of "Indianisms", presented in this article under the light of one of its multiple faces: sculpture.

References

ALEGRE, M. S. P. Imagem e representação do índio no século XIX. In: GRUPIONI, L. D. B. (org.). Índios no Brasil. São Paulo: Ministry of Edcuation and Sports, 1992.

ALFREDO, M. F. Diálogo neoclassicismo/romantismo na obra de Chaves Pinheiro. Master's thesis. Visual ArtsPost-Graduation Program. EBA, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, 2009.

ALFREDO, F. Conservação e Restauração da escultura Alegoria ao Império. Anais do 2º Encontro Luso-Brasileiro de Conservação e Restauração. São João del Rei: PPGA/EBA/UFMG, v. 2, 2013.

ANDERMANS, J. Espetáculos da diferença: a Exposição Antropológica Brasileira de 1882. Topoi Magazine, v. 3, July/December 2004.

AZEVEDO, M. D. Moreira de. O Rio de Janeiro; sua história, monumentos, homens notáveis, usos e curiosidades. Rio de Janeiro: Liv. Brasiliana Ed, 1969.

AZZI, R. A concepção da ordem social segundo o positivismo ortodoxo brasileiro. São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 1980.

BANDEIRA, J; XEXÉO, P. M.C; CONDURU, R. Missão Artística. Rio de Janeiro, Sextante Artes, 2003.

BARDI, P. M. História da Arte Brasileira (pintura, escultura, arquitetura, outras artes). São Paulo: Edições Melhoramentos, 1975.

CARRIZO, S. Fronteiras da imaginação. Os românticos brasileiros: mestiçagem e nação. Niterói: UFF Editions, 2001.

CARVALHO, José Murilo de. Pontos e bordados: escritos de história e política. Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG, 1999.

CAVALCANTI, A. M T.; DAZZI. C; VALLE, A (Org.). Oitocentos, Arte Brasileira do Império à Primeira República. 11ed. v. 1. Rio de Janeiro: EBA-UFRJ, 2008.

CHIARETTO, M. O nativismo crítico e germanista de Sílvio Romero. O eixo e a roda: v. 21, n. 2, 2012.

CHILLÓN, A. M. O Gênio do Brasil e as musas. Um manifesto ideológico numa nação em construção. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro, v. IX, n. 1, January/June. 2014. Available at: <http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/obras_amc.htm> Accessed on April 4th, 2014.

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. Available at: <http:/www.uol.com.br/fol/brasil500/imagens5.htm>. Accessed on June 10th, 2014.

COSTA, R. S. O corpo indígena ressignificado: Marabá e O último Tamoio de Rodolfo Amoedo e a retórica nacionalista do final do Segundo Império. Master's thesis. History Post Graduation Program. Philosophy and Human Sciences Institute, State University of Campinas, 2013.

CUNHA, Manuela Carneiro da. História dos índios no Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2008.

DIAVOLINO, Giuseppe. Bellas Artes. Mepistopheles. Rio de Janeiro, ano 1, n. 32, p.6, January 1875.

GUTIÉRREZ, Angela. O Guarani e a construção do mito do herói. Revista de Letras - n. 29(2) - Vol. 1 - January/July - 2009.

KNAUSS, P. Jogo de olhares: índios e negros na escultura do século XIX entre a França e o Brasil.História, vol. 32, number 1, January/June 2013.

KNAUSS, P. Negro Horácio: Louis Rochet e a escultura antropológica no século XIX. Anais do XXVI Simpósio Nacional de História. São Paulo: ANPUH, 2011.

MARTIUS, Friedrich von. Como se deve escrever a história do Brasil. Jornal do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro. n. 24, January 1845.

MIGLIACCIO, L. A Escultura monumental no Brasil do Século XIX. A criação de uma iconografia brasileira e as suas relações com a arte internacional. Anais do XXIII Colóquio do Comitê Brasileiro de História da Arte. Rio de Janeiro, EBHA Editions, 2004.

MIYOSHI, A. Moema é morta. Master's thesis. State University of Campinas, 2010.

NASCIMENTO, F. R. A imagem do índio na segunda metade do século XIX. Master's thesis. Visual Arts Post-Graduation Program. EBA, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, 1991.

RÍOS, A. M. de los.Grandjean de Montigny e a evolução da arte brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: A Noite, 1941.

SANTOS, G, R. dos. O estatuário brasileiro C. C. Almeida Reis. vol. VII de Espólio literário of Generino dos Santos: Humaniadas: o mundo, a humanidade, o homem. Rio de Janeiro, Editor Typ. do Jornal do commercio, 1938.

SCHWARCZ, L. M. O Império em procissão: ritos e símbolos do Segundo Reinado. Rio de Janeiro: J. Zahar, 2001.

SCHWARCZ, L. M. As barbas do imperador: D. Pedro II, um monarca nos trópicos. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2008.

SCHWARCZ, L. M. O espetáculo das raças. cientistas, instituições e questão racial no Brasil 1870-1930. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1993.

SILVA, M. do C. C. da. A obra Cristo e a mulher adúltera e a formação italiana do escultor Rodolfo Bernardelli. Master's thesis. IFCS, UFRJ, 2005.

SILVA, M. do. C. C. da. Representações do índio na arte brasileira do século XIX. Revista de História da Arte e Arqueologia, n. 8, July/December 2007.

SOUZA, I. L. C. de S. Pátria coroada: o Brasil como corpo politico autônomo, 1780-1831. São Paulo: Prismas, 1999.

TREVISAN, A. R. A Construção Visual da Monarquia Brasileira: Análise de Quatro Obras de Jean-Baptiste Debret. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro, v. IV, n. 3, July. 2009. Available at: <http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/obras_jbd_art.htm> Accessed on May 23rd, 2014.

VARNHAGEN, F. A. História Geral do Brazil, v. 1. Rio de Janeiro: Laemmert, 1845.

ZANINI, Walter. História geral da arte no Brasil. São Paulo: Instituto Moreira Salles, 1983.

19th century journals

A Actualidade, April 19th, 1863.

A República, June 20th, 1872.

Annaes de Medicina Brasiliense, August, 1848.

Annuario político, histórico e estatístico do Brazil, 1847.

Correio Comercial, November, 1851.

Correio Mercantil. February 26th, 1855.

Correio Mercantil, June 16th, 1865.

Correio Mercantil, November 12th, 1865.

Gazeta do Rio, November 12th, 1817.

Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, May 25th, 1822.

International Exhibition 1876. Official catalogue. Part II. Philadelphia: Centennial Catalogue Company by John Nagle and company, 1876.

Jornal da tarde, November 2nd, 1871. MORAES, A. J. de M.

Jornal do Comercio, July 2nd, 1841.

Ministério do Império, 1855.

Ministério do Império, 1857.

O despertador, June 12th, 1841.

Semana Ilustrada, February 2nd, 1873.

English translation by Ricky Toledano e Liane Sarmento

_________________________

[1] Rio de Janeiro State University / PNAP. National Library Foundation.

[2] MARTIUS, F. von. Como se deve escrever a história do Brasil. Jornal do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro. number 24, January 1845.

[3] BARDI, P. M. História da Arte Brasileira (pintura, escultura, arquitetura, outras artes). São Paulo: Edições Melhoramentos, 1975.

[4] SILVA, M. do C. C. da. A obra Cristo e a mulher adúltera e a formação italiana do escultor Rodolfo Bernardelli. Master's degree thesis, IFCS, UFRJ, 2005, p.12.

[5] GUTIÉRREZ, A. O Guarani e a construção do mito do herói. Revista de Letras , number 29(2), v. 1, January/July, 2009.

[6] Three colossal statues in plaster representing Brazil, Portugal and France, made in 1845 by Fernando Pettrich, and offered by him to a museum; an indian represents Brazil, a warrior of the Middle Ages represents Portugal, and Napoleon with an eagle represents France. AZEVEDO, M. D. M. de. O Rio de Janeiro; sua história, monumentos, homens notáveis, usos e curiosidades. Rio de Janeiro: Liv. Brasiliana Ed, 1969, p. 238.

[7] CHILLÓN, A. M. O Gênio do Brasil e as musas. Um manifesto ideológico numa nação em construção. 19&20, Rio de Janeiro, v. IX, number 1, January/June 2014. Available at: <http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/obras_amc.htm>. Accessed on April 4th, 2014.

[8] Written description in the museum catalog and in various publications: ALFREDO, M. F. Diálogo neoclassicismo/romantismo na obra de Chaves Pinheiro. Master's degree thesis, Visual Arts Post Graduation Program, EBA, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, 2009; SILVA, M. do. C. C. da. Representações do índio na arte brasileira do século XIX, Revista de História da Arte e Arqueologia, number 8, July-December 2007, pp. 63-71.

[9] A Actualidade, April 19, 1863.

[10] Ibidem.

[11] KNAUSS, P. Negro Horácio: Louis Rochet e a escultura antropológica no século XIX. Anais do XXVI Simpósio Nacional de História - São Paulo: ANPUH, 2011, p. 2.

[12] KNAUSS, P. Jogo de olhares: índios e negros na escultura do século XIX entre a França e o Brasil. História, v. 32, number 1,January/June 2013, p. 127.

[13] ZANINI, W. História geral da arte no Brasil. São Paulo: Instituto Moreira Salles, 1983, p. 410.

[14] ZANINI, op. cit.

[15] KNAUSS, 2011, op. cit.

[16] SANTOS, G, R. dos. O estatuário brasileiro C. C. Almeida Reis. v. VII de Espólio literário de Generino dos Santos: Humaniadas: o mundo, a humanidade, o homem. Rio de Janeiro: Editor Typ. do Jornal do Commercio, 1938.

[17] MORAES, A. J. de M. Jornal da tarde, November 2nd, 1871.

[18] RÍOS, A. M de los. Grandjean de Montigny e a evolução da arte brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: A Noite, 1941, p. 234.

[19] SOUZA, I. L. C. de S. Pátria coroada: o Brasil como corpo politico autônomo, 1780-1831. São Paulo: Prismas, 1999, p. 219.

[20] RÍOS, op. cit., p. 236. Medal made by Zephyrin Ferrez representing the temple of Minerva - rivers do not appear in the piece, only a shield with a vegetal decoration.

[21] SOUZA, op. cit., pp. 300-301. As it is in Versailles, where the main rivers of France are represented.

[22] Monument built in the "Campo de Sant´Anna" in honor of the heroes of the Paraguay war, Semana Ilustrada, February 2nd, 1873.

[23] A República, June 20th, 1872, p. 1.

[24] BANDEIRA, J; XEXÉO, P. M.C; CONDURU, R. Missão Artística. Rio de Janeiro: Sextante Artes, 2003, p. 187.

[25] RÍOS, op. cit., p. 239.

[26] Jornal do Comercio, July 2nd, 1841.

[27] O despertador, June 12th, 1841.

[28] MIGLIACCIO, L. A Escultura monumental no Brasil do Século XIX. A criação de uma iconografia brasileira e as suas relações com a arte internacional. Anais do XXIII Colóquio do Comitê Brasileiro de História da Arte. Rio de Janeiro, Editora do EBHA, 2004, v. 1, p. 240.

[29] SCHWARCZ, L. M. O Império em procissão: ritos e símbolos do Segundo Reinado. Rio de Janeiro: J. Zahar, 2001, p. 22.

[30] SOUZA, op. cit. p. 222.

[31] MIGLIACCIO, op. cit., p. 239.

[32] KNAUSS, 2011, op. cit. , p. 2.

[33] TREVISAN, A. R. A Construção Visual da Monarquia Brasileira: Analysis of Four Works of Jean-Baptiste Debret. 19&20. Rio de Janeiro, v. IV, n. 3, july 2009. Available at: <http://www.dezenovevinte.net/obras/obras_jbd_art.htm> Accessed on March 23rd, 2014.

SOUZA, op. cit. p. 245.

[35] SCHWARCZ, 2001, op. cit.

[36]The publication Correio Mercantil from November 12th, 1865 states that it was published in Semana Ilustrada, number 257.

[37] CHILLÓN, op. cit.

[38] GUTIÉRREZ, op. cit., p. 9.

[39] SOUZA, op. cit., p. 225.

[40] Correio Mercantil, February 26th, 1855

[41] GUTIÉRREZ, op. cit., p. 9.

[42] The newspaper O Jornal do Brasil on August 27th, 1941 states that this sketch was done for a public monument that would be built in Bahia, but most of the critics believe it was done for a bas-relief. It was published in Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro on May 25th 1822, and used as a picture to honor the dead in the war of Bahia.

[43] A harmonia celestial no Brasil (Celestial harmony in Brazil), May 2nd, 1851. "Libreto" by Gioacchino Gianinni.

[44] Correio Comercial, November 30th, 1851.

[45] Correio Mercantil, June 16th, 1865, p. 3.

[46] CHILLÓN, op. cit.

[47] There is dissent when it comes to how the age of this piece should be established. 1872 is commonly accepted, but, as Alfredo (2013) points out, the piece was made in 1874 to be exhibited in the General Exhibition of Fine Arts. A direct observation of the piece confirms this dating, which appears on the side of the base of the sculpture....

[48] Registration number 2571. Donated by Élio Pederneiras in 1951. 192 x 75 x 31 cm

[49] CHRISTO, M. de C. V. Indianismo na década de 1860: exposições e crítica de arte. (Indianism in the 1860 decade) - Boletim Grupo de Estudos Arte & Fotografia - Anais do VI Seminário Arte, Cultura e Fotografia. São Paulo: CAP-ECA-USP, n. 5, 2012.

[50] ALFREDO, 2009, op. cit, s/p.

[51] Previously, there existed indigenous representations, although less known, such as the logo of the newspaper "O Grito Nacional”. The creation of this Indianist iconography and the formation of the visual image of the motherland in the press pages becomes a fact of great importance, which is considered as a key moment in a wider process.

[52] SCHWARCZ, L. M. As barbas do imperador: D. Pedro II, um monarca nos trópicos (D. Pedro, an emperor from the tropics). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2008, p. 147.

[53] COSTA, R. S. O corpo indígena ressignificado: Marabá e O último Tamoio de Rodolfo Amoedo e a retórica nacionalista do final do Segundo Império. Master's Thesis. Post graduation program in History, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2013, p. 41.

[54] COSTA, op. cit., p. 42.

[55]COLI, J. Idealização do índio moldou a cultura nacional. Available at: <http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fol/brasil500/imagens5.htm>. Accessed on June 10th, 2014.

[56] KNAUSS, Paulo. Jogo de olhares: índios e negros na escultura do século XIX entre a França e o Brasil. História (São Paulo), v. 32, n. 1, January/June 2013, p. 128.

[57] SCHWARCZ, 2008, op. cit., p. 147. CHRISTO, op. cit.

[58] CARVALHO, J. M. de. Pontos e bordados: escritos de história e política. Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG, 1999, pp. 243-244.

[59] ALEGRE, M. S. P. Imagem e representação do índio no século XIX. In: GRUPIONI, L. D. B. (org.) Índios no Brasil. São Paulo: Ministério da Educação e do Desporto, 1992, p. 67.

[60] VARNHAGEN, F. A. História Geral do Brazil. v. 1. Rio de Janeiro: Laemmert, 1845, p. 15.

[61] Ibidem, p.28.

[62] PARRON, T. Cartas a favor da escravidão. São Paulo, Hedra, 2008. Apud MIYOSHI, A. Moema é morta. Doctoral thesis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2010, p. 139.

[63] Annuario político, histórico e estatístico do Brazil, 1847, p. 37.

[64] CUNHA, M. C. da. História dos índios no Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2008, p. 136.

[65] Ibidem, p. 383.

[66] Ministério do Império, 1855.

[67] CUNHA, op. cit., s.p, (illustration between 110 and 111 pages).

[68] MIYOSHI, op. cit., p. 141.

[69] Ibidem, p. 133.

[70] Ministério do Império, 1857.

[71] CUNHA, op. cit., p. 135.

[72] Knowledge on the different racial theories in Brazil in the 19th Century: SCHWARCZ, L. M. O espetáculo das raças: cientistas, instituições e questão racial no Brasil 1870-1930. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1993.

[73] Annaes de Medicina Brasiliense, agosto de 1848.

[74] CHIARETTO, M. O nativismo crítico e germanista de Sílvio Romero. O eixo e a roda. v. 21, n. 2, 2012.

[75] SILVA, 2005, op. cit., p.15.

[76] It would be interesting to evaluate how conscious the artist was of the fact that he was giving his work this critical or contemporaneous character, or if this was the interpretation of the critics.

[77] MORAES, A. J. de M. Jornal da tarde, November 2nd, 1871, p. 31.

[78] SILVA, 2011 op. cit., p. 64.

[79] DIAVOLINO, G. Bellas Artes. Mepistopheles. Rio de Janeiro: year 1, n. 32, p. 6, January, 1875.

[80] SILVA, 2007, op. cit., p. 65.

[81] ANDERMANS, J. Espetáculos da diferença: a Exposição Antropológica Brasileira de 1882. Revista Topoi, v. 3, July/December 2004.

[82] SILVA, 2007, op. cit., p. 64.

[83] MORAES, A. J. de M. op. cit.

[84] CARRIZO, S. Fronteiras da imaginação. Os románticos brasileiros: mestiçagem e nação. Niterói: Editora Universidade Federal Fluminense, 2001, pp. 155-156.

[85] Ibidem, pp. 133-134.

[86] CAVALCANTI, A. M. T. Entre a Europa e o Brasil: a faceira, escultura de Rodolpho Bernardelli, e a necessidade de agradar ao público. In: CAVALCANTI, A. M T.; DAZZI. C; VALLE, A (Org.). Oitocentos, Arte Brasileira do Império à Primeira República. 11ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: EBA-UFRJ, 2008, v. 1, pp. 159-166.

[87] CUNHA, op. cit., p. 104.

[88] NASCIMENTO, F. R. A imagem do índio na segunda metade do século XIX. Master's thesis. Visual Arts Post-Graduation Program, EBA, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, 1991. p. 75.

[89] AZZI, R. A concepção da ordem social segundo o positivismo ortodoxo brasileiro. São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 1980, p.111.

[90] Rodolpho Bernardelli sculpted À espreita, also called Um índio surpreendido por um réptil in 1875. The theme of inspiration for this work is very close to Despres'. SILVA, 2005, op. cit., p. 17.

[91] International Exhibition, 1876. Official catalogue. Part II. Philadelphia: Centennial Catalogue Company by John Nagle and company, 1876.

[92] SCHWARCZ, 2008, op. cit., p. 147.

[93] Ibidem p. 389.

[94] The São Francisco River has interesting similarities with Brazil’s Genie, and also with Doríforo, almost a classic figure adorned with feathers, establishing a connection between ancient times to the tropical Empire.

[95] SCHWARCZ, 2008, op. cit., p. 403.

[96] COSTA, op. cit., p. 72.