Batalha dos Guararapes (English: Battle of Guararapes) is an oil painting created between 1875 and 1879. It represents a history painting from the first confrontation of the Battle of Guararapes that took place in the 17th century in the Captaincy of Pernambuco, which culminated with the banishment of the Dutch invaders from Brazilian lands. The canvas was painted by the Brazilian artist and professor of historical painting Victor Meirelles and the scene represents the victory of the Brazilian troops against the Dutch on April 19, 1648, in the first of the two confrontations that occurred in that battle, fought in the region of Guararapes Hill. The second confrontation would be fought months later at the same location, on February 19, 1649, leading to the definitive expulsion of the Dutch troops from the colony, which would only occur in January 1654, with the signing of their capitulation.
Initially, the painting on the battle would have been assigned to the painter Pedro Américo from Paraíba, commissioned by the Minister of the Empire João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira. Once the proposal was accepted, the painter went to Italy and stayed at the Convent Santissima Annunziata, Florence to start the painting. Pedro Américo gave up painting the commissioned battle and decided to do a canvas portraying the Paraguayan War, which would be called the Battle of Avaí. With this decision, the minister transferred the commission to Victor Meirelles in 1872:CASTRO, Isis Pimentel de; (abril de 2007). Os Pintores de História. A relação entre arte e história através das telas de batalhas de Pedro Américo e Victor Meirelles (PDF) (Tese). IFCS/UFRJ.
Meirelles' work is one of the historical paintings that circulated most in Brazil, along with canvases such as First Mass in Brazill, also by him, and Independence or Death, by Pedro Américo. It was shown at the 25th General Exposition of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in 1879, in Rio de Janeiro, to some three hundred thousand visitors. There were also works by Pedro Americo in the exhibition, such as the Battle of Avaí, both representing victorious episodes in the "national military history". The exhibition, which at first highlighted the qualities of the paintings, displayed side by side, began to be marked by an atmosphere of rivalry between the authors, instigated by the opinions of the press.«Victor Meirelles». Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural. Consulted in November 28, 2017.
This battle also has the particularity of being the first moment of national communion in Brazilian history, with regard to the defense of the territory against invaders. It represents the union of the Brazilian people in favor of a national feeling. This interpretation about the Dutch invasion was built in the 19th century, based on the historiographic production of the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute (IHGB), creating the "visual memory of the nation". The frequent Dutch and foreign invasions in general, caused a national bond that united the three ethnic groups that formed the colony's society at the time, aligning white Europeans (Portuguese), indigenous and blacks, in a common goal: the expulsion of the Dutch not only from that region, which would later be called Northeast Brazil, but also from the whole territory of the still colony of Portugal.Fernando Castilho (12 de maio de 2015). «Roberto Freire, da Cultura e Raul Jungmann, da Defesa anunciam revitalização do Parque Nacional dos Guararapes». JC Negócios. Consultado em 19 de novembro de 2017 It was a historically important event to portray and that would be, more than 170 years later, one of the strongest inspirations for the formation of the Brazilian Army.
Author
Victor Meirelles (1832–1903) was born in Nossa Senhora do Desterro (now Florianópolis), in the then Province of Santa Catarina. At the age of six he began his artistic studies and at the age of fifteen he moved to Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the Empire, to study at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (Portuguese: Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, AIBA), specializing in historical painting. He perfected his technique in Europe, studying in Rome and Paris for seven years. In the latter city, he produced his painting Primeira Missa no Brasil (English: First Mass in Brazil), considered by critics to be the first great work of Brazilian art. He returns to Brazil in 1861 and, in the following year, is appointed professor of historical painting at Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Before Batalha dos Guararapes, Meirelles had already painted Indian themes, such as Moema, in 1866, and other historical episodes of battles, such as Passagem de Humaitá (English: Humaitá Passageway) and Batalha do Riachuelo (English: Riachuelo Battle), between 1869 and 1872. In 1885, he founded a company to produce panoramic images of Rio de Janeiro and from then on began to dedicate himself to this style of painting. With the restructuring of AIBA, after the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, Meirelles was exonerated from his position as professor and went through a period of "marginalization", for having been the official artist of the monarchic period. However, he left a legacy considered important by critics for several artists of the second half of the 19th century, after almost thirty years as a professor. Regretting that his works had been forgotten, he began to hold public exhibitions of his panoramic paintings to support himself until his death a few years later.
Description Batalha dos Guararapes, oil on canvas full-color work, is kept in the collection of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, in Rio de Janeiro, and measures 500 cm by 925 cm.Leco Santos (10 de abril de 2015). «Batalha dos Guararapes». Museu Nacional de Belas Artes. Consultado em 26 de novembro de 2017. Cópia arquivada em 26 de novembro de 2017«Batalha dos Guararapes». Itaú Cultural. Consultado em 26 de novembro de 2017. Cópia arquivada em 26 de novembro de 2017 It depicts one of the battles between the Portuguese and the Dutch that took place on the Guararapes Hill, on Brazilian soil, during Brazil's colonial period.«Felipe Camarão, capitão-mor dos índios do Brasil». Diário de Pernambuco. 9 de maio de 2016. Consultado em 27 de novembro de 2017. Cópia arquivada em 29 de novembro de 2017 The title of the painting refers to the name given to the battle, relating it to the name of the place where it took place: Morro dos Guararapes.
Centrally and prominently, there is André Vidal de Negreiros, field master of the Portuguese Army, brandishing his sword, mounted on a brown and white horse that prances at the moment captured by the artist, making his image taller than any other. At the same time, the master strikes a blow with his sword against the Dutch colonel Keeweer, who looks at him stunned, lying on the ground. This is the nerve center of the scene. Around the central content, many warriors with various spears, flags and swords face each other, having a concentration of men around the confrontation of the two chiefs. The battle is being won by the Portuguese army that is arranged on the left side of the picture, and on the right side, several Dutch dead, wounded on the ground and others still in the middle of the duel, with their bodies leaning forward, which directs the viewer's gaze. Next to the battered colonel, there are warriors protecting him from the Portuguese master, covering him like in a barricade and pointing their weapons at the enemy. The Dutch colonel's white horse is lying wounded on the ground. Meirelles also depicts the military strategies used and, in this way, exposes the Dutch warriors, who were arranged in several human bands, creating army phases.
Right behind André Vidal, there is the commander of the troop, Barreto de Menezes, also mounted on horseback, showing his sword and going to capture the governor of the Dutch, Sigismund von Schkopp. On the right side, some warriors further away from the chaos of the battle in the center, observe and comment on the scene. The Dutch, as well as the Portuguese, all white-skinned, wear colorful clothes, in various shades: red, green, yellow, blue, orange, brown, gray, black, and white, colors that call attention in their clothes of thick fabrics, showy, detailed, with feathers, belts, trim, leather boots. They also wear iron armor and have numerous pieces of equipment such as shields, spears, and swords, the latter aimed at the enemy. The Portuguese army is composed of white-skinned Portuguese and some indigenous and black men who are poorly represented, wear simple clothes, some are even unarmored. The white men have horses, and the dark-skinned fight all on the ground.
To the left, towards the land of the scenery, there are a group of Portuguese soldiers on horseback in the background, ferociously approaching the combat zone. These are depicted with more muted colors that blend with the vegetation and a surrounding dust. On the lower side of the canvas, on the dirt floor with some bloodstains, are several wounded men, dead, lying among some dry branches, abandoned weapons and pieces of clothing. Others, also on the ground, are watching and protecting themselves from the battle, helpless. All the chaos and movement of the scene raises a dust produced by the earthen floor, which involves the whole picture, causing a frame effect of penumbra. Filipe Camarão and Henrique Dias occupy the sides of the canvas, right and left respectively. The groups of warriors slowly disappear into the open space in the background. They are represented in a smaller size and with neutral colors which generates a visual effect of depth and grandeur of the battle, as if it were not possible to portray the size of the battle itself, but a specific cut: the Portuguese Vidal de Negreiros' blow against the Dutch Keeweer.
The meeting of the armies takes place in the foreground, on the Guararapes Hill, a place with tall trees, an earthy, wide flat ground. The landscape occupies the upper left corner of the screen with an immense blue sky that carries clouds and composes together with the gray dust. Meirelles composes the topography of the region and inserts in the background, in the third plane, Cabo de Santo Agostinho, the place that represents the reason for the confrontation between the two groups. In this more distant plane, a technique of depth is used with the use of a palette of dull colors, white and little sharpness, unlike the center and foregrounds where there is more sharpness and bright colors. One notices a nature composed of various species of trees, and the flow of the sea toward the mountainous horizon.
The language used by Meirelles is clear and seeks to be faithful to the event and the place, with the intention of rescuing the spirit of an era from its vestiges, since the paintings of battles became, at that time, ways of documenting real exploits, and recording them as an eyewitness account. Artistic realism from the 19th century onward becomes a fundamental characteristic in works, notably in historical painting. The ability to capture the "real" takes precedence over the didactic function, although not completely. Themes focused on national history became a constant, gradually replacing the interest in religious themes, and there was a greater need to consult sources that would help compose the painting as faithfully as possible, within its historical context.
Process and inspirations