European collections IN BRAZIL WITH patricia D. meneses

october 29, 2020

This talk presents an overview of the most important collections of European art (before 1800) in Brazil, from colonial times to the present, while reflecting on the traditional idea of European art as an index of civilization and progress. It discusses the history and focuses of these collections, as well as several important works that compose them. Patricia D. Meneses also offers a broad picture of the efforts by Brazilian institutions and scholars to map and study these collections, a lesser-known aspect of Brazilian art history.

Artworks

Giovanni Maria Bottalla, called Raffaellino (Italian, 1613–1644), Deucalion and Phyrra, c. 1635. Oil on canvas, 71 1/4 x 81 1/8 in. (181 x 206 cm). Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional de Belas Artes

Simone Cantarini (Italian, 1612–1648), Apollo and Dafne. 9 3/8 x 13 in. (23.8 x 32.9 cm). Biblioteca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro

Master of the Bigallo Crucifix (Italian, active mid-thirteenth century), Enthroned Virgin with Child and Two Angels, c. 1275. Tempera on wood, 51 1/8 x 22 in. (130 x 56 cm). São Paulo Art Museum, P. M. Bardi Collection

Andrea Mantegna (Italian, c. 1431–1506), Saint Jerome Penitent in the Desert, 1448–1451. Tempera on wood, 18 7/8 x 14 1/8 in. (48 x 36 cm). São Paulo Art Museum

Titian (Venetian, c. 1488–1576), Portrait of Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo, 1552. Oil on canvas, 82 5/8 x 42 7/8 in. (210 x 109 cm). São Paulo Art Museum

Jean-Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779), Jeune écolier qui joue au toton, 1741. Oil on canvas, 26 3/8 x 28 3/4 in. (67 X 73 cm). São Paulo Art Museum

Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723–1792), Study for the Portrait of Lady Caroline Howard. 24 x 19 5/8 in. (61 X 50 cm). Eva Klabin Foundation, Rio de Janeiro

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Patricia D. Meneses is professor at State University of Campinas, Brazil (UNICAMP). She was Han Jonas Visiting Professor at the University of Siegen (2019) and vice coordinator of the project “Teaching Non-European Art at UNICAMP,” within the Getty Foundation’s Connecting Art Histories Program (2015–17). Meneses has a masters in history of art (State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, 2005) and a PhD in history of the visual arts (Università degli Studi di Pisa, Italy, 2009). She currently studies the relationship between science and art in the nineteenth century, particularly the visual culture connected to the idea of “exotic nature.”