Victor Meirelles de Lima (18 August 1832 – 22 February 1903) was a Brazilian painter and teacher who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history. From humble origins, his talent was soon recognized, being admitted as a student at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. He specialized in the genre of history painting, and upon winning the Academy's Foreign Travel Award, he spent several years training in Europe. There he painted his best-known work, Primeira Missa no Brasil. Returning to Brazil, he became one of emperor Pedro II's favorite painters, joining the monarch's patronage program and aligning himself with his proposal to renew the image of Brazil through the creation of visual symbols of its history.
He became an esteemed teacher at the Academy, forming a generation of painters, and continued his personal work by performing other important historical paintings, such as Batalha dos Guararapes, Moema and Combate Naval do Riachuelo, as well as portraits and landscapes, of which the Retrato de Dom Pedro II and his three Panoramas stand out. In his heyday he was considered one of the leading artists of the second reign, often receiving high praise for the perfection of his technique, the nobility of his inspiration and the general quality of his monumental compositions, as well as his unblemished character and tireless dedication to his craft. Meirelles got many admirers both in Brazil and abroad. He received imperial decorations and was the first Brazilian painter to win admission to the Paris Salon, but was also the target of scathing criticism, arousing strong controversies in a period when disputes between academic painters and the early modernists were ignited. With the advent of the Republic in Brazil, for being too linked to the Imperial government, he fell into ostracism, and ended his life in precarious financial conditions, already much forgotten.
“Meirelles’ work is rooted in the Brazilian academic tradition, characterized by an eclectic synthesis of neoclassical, romantic, and realist influences, while also reflecting Baroque and Nazarene elements. After a period of relative obscurity, contemporary criticism has recognized him as a forerunner of modern Brazilian painting and one of the foremost 19th-century Brazilian painters. He is widely regarded as the greatest of his era, creating some of the most celebrated visual interpretations of Brazilian history, which continue to resonate in the country’s culture and are frequently reproduced in school textbooks and other media.
He is the Patron of the 6th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Fine Arts.
Biography Early life
His early years are obscure and the few sources provide conflicting information. Victor Meirelles de Lima was the son of Portuguese immigrant Antônio Meirelles de Lima and Brazilian Maria da Conceição dos Prazeres, merchants who lived with limited economic resources in the city of Nossa Senhora do Desterro (now Florianópolis). He had a brother, Virgílio. According to records, at the age of five he began to be educated in Latin, Portuguese and arithmetic, but he spent his free time drawing dolls and landscapes from his island of Santa Catarina and copying other people's images that he found in engravings and pamphlets. According to the testimony of José Arthur Boiteux:
In 1843, when he was between 10 and 11 years old, Meirelles began to receive instruction from Father Joaquim Gomes d’Oliveira e Paiva, who taught him French and philosophy and deepened his knowledge of Latin. His precocious talent was noticed and encouraged by his family and local authorities, and in 1845 he began to take regular classes with a professor of geometric design, Argentine engineer Mariano Moreno, who was a doctor of law and theology, as well as a journalist, politician and former secretary of the first Government Board of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, playing, according to Teresinha Franz, "an important role in the construction of the Argentine identity". At the same time, Meirelles probably completed his general studies at the Jesuit College, which taught classes in Latin, French, philosophy, elementary history, geography, rhetoric, and geometry, and it is possible that he came into contact with traveling artists who documented nature and the local people.
Some of his drawings were seen and appreciated by Jerônimo Coelho, counselor of the Empire of Brazil, who showed them to the then director of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, Félix-Émile Taunay. The director immediately accepted Meirelles, then only aged fourteen, as a student at the institution. Moving to Rio de Janeiro in 1847, Meirelles started to attend a drawing course, having the initial expenses financed by a group of patrons and being a student of Manuel Joaquim de Melo Corte Real, Joaquim Inácio da Costa Miranda and José Correia de Lima, who had studied with the classicist Debret. The following year he won a gold medal and a little later he returned to his hometown to visit his parents. The first of his known works date from this period. In 1849 he was back in Rio de Janeiro, studying at the Academy, among others, the discipline of historical painting, a genre in which he had his greatest successes. It is said that Meirelles was a brilliant student, excelling in all subjects. In 1852 he won the Travel to Europe Prize with his painting Saint John the Baptist in Prison.
Studies in Europe
In June 1853, at the age of 21, Meirelles landed in Le Havre, France. He passed briefly through Paris and then settled in Rome, his original destination. There he met two other students from the Academy who were also improving, Agostinho da Mota and Jean Leon Pallière, who introduced Meirelles to the artistic environment of the city and guided him on which masters he should look for. At first he entered the class of Tommaso Minardi, who, despite his fame, followed an excessively austere method, where the students remained excessively subordinated to the precepts, without the opportunity to develop their own ideas. Then he dropped out of class and enrolled in the atelier of Nicola Consoni, a member of the Accademia di San Luca. Consoni was also rigorous, but Meirelles made good use of the live model sessions, essential for the refinement of anatomical drawing, an essential element in the genre of historical painting, the most prestigious in the academic system. At the same time, he practiced in watercolor and came into contact with the vast collection of ancient art in the Italian capital. In a second stage, he moved to Florence, getting to know the local museums and being strongly impressed by the art of Veronese. As a study, he copied works by the master, as well as other outstanding figures, such as Titian, Tintoretto and Lorenzo Lotto. As required by the Academy, he regularly sent his works and copies to Brazil as proof of his progress. His performance was so good that the Brazilian government decided to renew his scholarship for another three years in 1856, in addition to indicating to the artist a list of new specific studies that he should complete.
Thus, in 1856 he went to Milan and soon after to Paris. He tried, on the recommendation of Araújo Porto-Alegre, at the time director of the Academy and his main mentor, to be admitted as a student of Paul Delaroche, but the master suddenly died, so he had to look for another direction, finding it in Léon Cogniet, an equally celebrated romantic painter, member of the École des Beaux-Arts and a reference for foreigners who were going to study in Europe. He then studied with André Gastaldi, who was almost the same age as Meirelles, but who had a more advanced view of art and gave him important instruction in colors. His routine, according to reports, was almost monastic, devoting himself entirely to art, and again his studies were considered so good that his scholarship was extended again for another two years. At that time, his production was numerous, standing out among all his works A Primeira Missa no Brasil, executed between 1858 and 1861, which earned him space and praise at the prestigious Paris Salon of 1861, an unprecedented feat for Brazilian artists that had a very positive impact in his homeland.
Return to Brazil and fame In the same year his scholarship ended and he had to return, already feted like a genius. He exhibited A Primeira Missa no Brasil and, among many honors, received from emperor Pedro II the Imperial Order of the Rose in the rank of knight. Soon after, he traveled to Santa Catarina to visit his mother — his father had died while he was in Europe. He stayed there for some time and returned to Rio de Janeiro, where he was appointed Honorary Professor of the Academy, being promoted shortly after to Interim Professor, and later assuming the chair of historical painting. Testimonies from students declare their respect for Meirelles, attesting to his impeccable character and his dedication to teaching, being considered an attentive, patient teacher and truly interested in the progress of his disciples. His fame was consolidated and from this time dates the work Moema, one of the best known works of Brazilian indianism, but in its first exhibition it did not attract interest. Nevertheless, Meirelles received commissions from the imperial family, painting the Wedding of Princess Isabel and a portrait of the emperor in 1864, as well as portraits of members of the nobility and politicians. In 1864 he received the habit of the Order of Christ. He also became known for his devotion to national causes, which is why he was hired in 1868 by the imperial government to paint about the Paraguayan War, which was in full swing, in a contract that both honored him and gave him good remuneration.
Immediately Meirelles moved to the conflict region to gather impressions of the landscape and the military environment. He set up a workshop aboard the ship Brasil, the flagship of the Brazilian fleet, and spent months there drawing up sketches for his works. Returning to Rio de Janeiro, he took up a space at the Santo Antônio Convent, which he turned into a studio, and put himself to work diligently, isolating himself from the world. This effort resulted in two of his most important works, both of great dimensions: Passagem de Humaitá and Combate Naval de Riachuelo. While he was working on these paintings, he received a visit from the imperial family, with whom he had contact, which resulted in new paintings and the sending of Combate Naval de Riachuelo to represent Brazil at an international fair held in the United States. Upon returning from the exhibition, the work was damaged.
In 1871 he painted Juramento da Princesa Regente, the following year he was appointed commander of the Order of the Rose, and in 1875 he began the sketches for another great historical work, Batalha dos Guararapes, accepting a project that had been refused by Pedro Américo, who preferred work on his Batalha de Avaí. As he had done before, Meirelles went to the region where the conflict had taken place to conceive the composition with greater historical accuracy. The two battle paintings were exhibited at the Salon of 1879 and both artists received the Grand Prix and the title of dignitaries of the Order of the Rose, but it triggered the greatest aesthetic controversy that had hitherto taken place in Brazil. While some recognized their superlative abilities, hailing them as geniuses and heroes, others accused them of plagiarism and passé. At the same time, two parties were formed, one supporting Meirelles and the other Américo, in the dispute over which of the battle painting was more perfect. The lay public also got involved and the discussion took over the newspapers and magazines for months. Despite receiving much applause, the also numerous criticisms struck Meirelles deeply, throwing him into a state of melancholy tha apparently accompanied him until the end of his life.