O Segundo Vereador de Mariana e a compreensão estilística nas Minas do século XVIII: O exemplo da talha

Abstract

It is quite noticeable that 18th-century carving had three predominant models, systematically classified thanks to the efforts of researchers such as Germain Bazin, Lúcio Costa and Robert Smith. It would be interesting, however, if we could find out how men in the 18th century labeled such production. In our view, there is a documentary trace of this: it is the account given by the Second Councilor of Mariana, Joaquim José da Silva, copied by Rodrigo José Ferreira Bretas in his famous biography on Aleijadinho. Such a text has already been accused of being a fraud invented by Bretas; others, however, hail it as legitimate. It is evident that the transcribed passage is very distant from Rodrigo's prose, resembling an older linguistic construction. Another reason that we think supports the authenticity of the report is the nomenclature used to designate the various stylistic tastes then in vogue: terms, it seems, really coming from the 18th century and not from the 19th (when Baroque was already passing through the sieve of criticism neoclassical). Lúcio Costa was the first to try to extract this terminology from the Councilor and attribute it to the altarpieces-and here we will propose a review of his notes.