In the context of this artwork, explain the Verisimilitude of the scene of the Reception and criticism.
Meirelles' work was the target of several criticisms and debates because it deals with a historical moment and there are different opinions about how it really occurred and should be represented. In 1879, Meirelles was accused of producing a misleading scene about the Dutch invasion. It was alleged that this event could not have been portrayed in such a peaceful manner. Different opinions on how the scene occurred conflicted with the research the author himself had done before creating the painting, such as his meticulous work in Pernambuco, where he conducted studies and research at the Instituto Arqueológico, Histórico e Geográfico Pernambucano (IAHGP) and was able to view weapons and other props that helped him in the making of the canvas.One of the critics of the painting was the researcher Donato Mello Júnior (he was a professor, researcher, and architect, who contributed to the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts), whose attacks on the works of Victor Meirelles and Pedro Américo were present at the 1879 exhibitions, with his publications of articles in pamphlets. Several critics specialized in plastic arts were divided in their opinions about the paintings and their authors. There were also publications by anonymous writers in newspapers, a resource allowed by the press in the 19th century, or pseudonyms, in order to destroy the artists' reputation and deny journalistic seriousness. The accusations were diverse, from plagiarism of the artists, to false or inappropriate representations of people, objects, props, scenes, alleging a lack of commitment to the painting's fidelity to the past.
Some of André Félibien's principles were adopted by Meirelles, in response to the accusation of lack of emotion in Batalha dos Guararapes, such as the theory of the principle of unity of the painting. This doctrine required an idealization in the composition so that all the figures were associated with and assisted in the characterization of the action of the hero portrayed, i.e., the entire cut should serve the central virtuous action at the same moment. This systematized rule would be applied in paintings of the historical genre, according to Félibien, a category that contributed too much to academic teaching besides enabling the painter a valuable status and social recognition.Other principles also preached by André Félibien on the theory of painting were cited by Meirelles, in defense of his work, such as the importance of perspectives, of light and dark, of the ordering of figures, of proportions.The artist felt the need to develop a chronicle with the objective of clarifying the European artistic tradition that his work followed, citing some precepts of the academic art which he followed for his production, and places as the main one the unity of composition. Meirelles says that his work brings a specific central clipping, and eliminates from his narrative anything that might confuse the understanding of the main message. Finally, he legitimizes all his production, claiming that it follows a tradition that only conceives works of art guided by the principle of unity.: p.75 The episodes, however picturesque and characteristic of a battle, whose end was only to represent the destruction or extermination of one race by another, could not, on the canvas Batalha dos Guararapes, contribute to excite the interest calculated by the artist, who only thought of drawing the spectator's attention to the main characters (...) Movement in the art of composing a picture is not, nor can it be taken in the sense that our critics want to give it. The movement results from the contrast of the figures among themselves and of the groups between each other; from this contrast, in the attitudes and in the variety of expressions, as well as in the well calculated effects of the masses of shadow and of light, by the perfect intelligence of perspective, which, by graduating the planes, also gives us the due proportion between the figures in their different distances, is born the nature of movement, under the aspect of verisimilitude, and not the mark of delirium.In this way, Meirelles uses the knowledge of his artistic training, rich in doctrines of the pictorial tradition, and combines his research on the Batalha dos Guararapes, to assert that the figure is a credible representation, and not a source of his imagination. Another criticism he received was that made by Jornal do Commercio, in 1879, which accused the painter of representing models of weapons and clothing that belonged to a certain "Theater of Mr. Ferrari", and not the originals used at the time of the combat.There are no models drawn in Brazil either, and like these indispensable objects for the making of a historical picture, many others are missing (...). With these elements or, better yet, with the lack of them, Mr. Vítor Meireles painted his Batalha dos Guararapes. Now, I ask, can anyone demand in this painting: exactness in the appearance of the main characters of the painting, absolute truth in the accessories, and meticulous correction in the nude drawing, when Vítor Meireles had at his disposal neither portraits, nor museums, nor models? On what can one fairly exercise severity for this painter's painting? Composition? In response to the criticism, Rangel de Sampaio, a friend of Meirelles, recalls that the painter went to Pernambuco with the purpose of researching and, in fact, saw several artifacts from the period. Even without having them in abundance as in Europe, the Instituto Arqueológico, Histórico e Geográfico from Pernambuco stored models of the items in question. Besides the clothing and accessories, Sampaio also states that Meirelles examined the very place where the battle had taken place.What Rangel de Sampaio says about Meireles' trip to Pernambuco: Conscientious as he is, attentive to the study of topography and all the physical accidents that are connected to the subjects he tries to immortalize on his canvases, he, commissioned to commemorate the Battle of Guararapes, went to examine the theater of action. And he did it well. The famous places, as it were, lend themselves to telling us of the glorious deeds they witnessed.
André Félibien's Félibien topography Pedro Américo André Félibien artist Victor Meirelles 19th century Pernambuco