Focus on Batalha dos Guararapes and discuss the 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.
English Rome historical painting capital of the Empire Imperial Academy of Fine Arts Rio de Janeiro artist Paris Victor Meirelles Proclamation of the Republic Portuguese style of painting 19th century