Opulence and Devotion

From the late 16th to the end of the 18th centuries, when Brazil was a Portuguese colony, painting and sculpture was almost entirely religious in nature. Fired with zeal for the conversion of the indigenous peoples of Brazil, Jesuit, Franciscan and Benedictine missionaries exploited the sensory impact of painting, sculpture, music and drama to promote the faith there. The opulent, majestic and theatrical Catholicism that gradually took root appealed to the imagination and to the senses -- as did the Baroque art of Counter-Reformation Europe. This book has been published to mark the first exhibition in Britain of Brazilian Baroque Art. Edited and largely compiled by Dr Catherine Whistler, the book also contains an art-historical survey by Dr Cristina Avila, of The Federal University of Minas Gerais, and an essay on Patronage and Expressions of the Baroque by Professor A J R Russell-Wood of The Johns Hopkins University. The colour plates demonstrate the vitality and virtuosity of the individual sculptures, domestic altarpieces, and pieces of liturgical silver loaned to the exhibition from private collections and Museums in Brazil.