Igreja Sao Francisco de Assis
The Igreja de São Francisco de Assis is a Roman Catholic church in the Brazilian city of Ouro Preto , which was built in the Baroque style and contains design elements from the Rococo .
It is one of the most important examples of colonial art in Brazil, one of the most important Brazilian churches from the colonial era and one of the most famous works of the master Aleijadinho , who was responsible for the design of the facade as well as the design of the reliefs and the gilded wood carvings. He created some of these elements himself, while other artists contributed to Aleijadinho's work.
In the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis there are also works by the master Manuel da Costa Ataíde , the most important painter of colonial Brazil. His design of the ceiling of the nave is one of his most famous works. He also created wall paintings and gilded the main altar . Because of its great importance, the church was placed under protection by the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional . In 2009 it was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World of Portuguese Origin . As part of the historic old town of Ouro Preto, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site .
history
The church was built by the Franciscan order. Preparations for the building site began around 1765. In 1766 the builder Domingos Moreira de Oliveira won the contract to carry out the construction with a design by Aleijadinho . However, official approval for the construction of the church was not granted until 1771. As was customary at the time, the construction of the choir began . The work was proceeding quickly at first, in 1774 the choir was already roofed over and the interior of the church was decorated with wood carving and stucco under the leadership of Aleijadinho. He made the soapstone pulpits attached to the choir arch . The main altar was built between 1790 and 1794.
After the choir was built, construction of the facade and the front spike began , with the portal designed by Aleijadinho. In 1787 the design of the towers was changed and in 1788 the roof was completed. The work on the masonry was not finished until 1794 by Master Oliveira. Thus the decoration of the nave was still missing. The side altars were also designed by Aleijadinho, but their construction was delayed until 1829. They then dragged on until 1890. Manuel da Costa Ataíde was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the nave with a painting, he also created the wall paintings in the chancel and the nave as well as the gilding and the paintings on the woodcut work in the choir. This work began in 1801 and was completed in 1812. In 1801, a few gaps on the sides of the churches were closed by building a roof and arcades to prevent moisture from entering.
At the end of the 19th century the floor tiles were laid and the old access stairs torn down. In 1935 a cemetery was laid out next to the choir room. During the 20th century, the church underwent various conservation and restoration works carried out by the former National Monuments Inspectorate and later by the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional .
architecture
The floor plan of the building differs greatly from the standards of the time. Instead of a flat facade, the towers are set back, their shape is cylindrical. The ambulatory was omitted, the oculus is filled with a relief. The structure takes up elements of the Italian and Portuguese Baroque as well as the Rococo , the latter are particularly visible in the decorations. Aleijadinho is the author of many of these decorations.
Aleijadinho, who was primarily a sculptor and carver, created figures and ornaments for the facades and interior decorations of churches, working with stone and wood. In the facades of his churches, however, the sculpture is so closely interwoven with the architectural design that Aleijadinho did justice not only to the role of the sculptor, but also that of the builder. In any case, it seems that at the time of the construction of the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis, the roles of bricklayer, builder and sculptor were not clearly delineated. The church belongs to a style of architecture called ornate architecture (arquitetura decorada) , which for a short time dominated new buildings in the towns of Minas Gerais at the end of the 18th century .
The basic concept of the building is based on the important churches from its era. The nave and the choir are rectangular, side aisles lead to the sacristy . The arrangement of the windows follows the very traditional V-pattern, which was often implemented in Minas Gerais at the time, while in most of the Portuguese Empire it was already considered out of date. The most outstanding feature of this building is the protruding facade. It emphasizes the three-dimensionality more than, for example, the winding facade of the Igreja do Carmo . The front part is connected by an inwardly curved wall to the towers, which have outwardly curved walls. The three-dimensional effect is reinforced by the columns on the sides of the front, the windows on the connecting walls between the front and the towers further reinforce this effect. The design elements inspired by Borromini can mainly be found on the facade and the side towers.
The central element of the facade is a high relief that takes the place of the otherwise common oculus. This relief optically interrupts the entablature and is enclosed by it like a frame. The towers and the facade compete with each other and give the building a tendency towards duality. The centrifugal aspect, however, is offset by the clever arrangement of the elements and spaces that center everything on the high relief. As a result, the facade dominates the towers and thereby integrates them.
As early as 1938, the church was cataloged by the Serviço do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, the predecessor organization of the IPHAM, and was thus one of the first objects in Brazil to be listed. During this so-called "heroic phase of IPHAM", intellectuals around Mário de Andrade feared that the detachment from the colonial past would come at the expense of cultural assets from the colonial era. Today the baroque is no longer viewed with rejection in Brazil and tourists also understand that the Igreja São Francisco de Assis is one of the most important buildings in the city of Ouro Preto. When UNESCO declared the entire historic city center of Ouro Preto a World Heritage Site, the importance of the church as a masterpiece of Brazilian architecture and as one of the most important monuments of the Brazilian Baroque was highlighted.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e entry Igreja de São Francisco de Assis (Ouro Preto, MG) in the Livro das Belas Artes of the Arquivo Noronha Santos database. Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional , June 4, 1938, accessed June 13, 2018 .
- ^ John Bury : Antônio Francisco Lisboa, o Aleijadinho . In: Myriam Andrade Ribeiro de Oliveira (ed.): Arquitetura e Arte no Brasil Colonial . IPHAN / Monumenta, 2006, p. 86-103 .
- ↑ a b John Bury : As igrejas 'borromínicas' do Brasil colonial . In: Myriam Andrade Ribeiro de Oliveira (ed.): Arquitetura e Arte no Brasil Colonial . IPHAN / Monumenta, 2006, p. 124-165 .
- ↑ Oliveira, Cléo Alves Pinto de. Educação Patrimonial no IPHAN. Escola Nacional de Administração Pública, 2011 http://portal.iphan.gov.br/portal/baixaFcdAnexo.do?id=1766
- ↑ Percival Tirapeli: estrangeiros pesquisadores nacionais e: Barroco no Brasil . Symposium A Invenção do Barroco, Goethe-Institut, December 6th to 12th, 2005
- ↑ Folha de São Paulo: Ouro dos altares evoca a riqueza de Ouro Preto , March 7, 2013
- ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
Web links
Coordinates: 20 ° 23 ′ 12.5 ″ S , 43 ° 30 ′ 10.3 ″ W.