MestreValentim

If, before the impacts of the "French Mission" (1816), the city of Rio de Janeiro was not the most privileged place to find a modern debate on painting and sculpture, that does not mean that, since the previous century, other types of artists had not been fundamental in giving the city an urban face. Among them stands the work of Valentim da Fonseca e Silva, or simply Mestre Valentim (1745-1813). The son of a Portuguese man and an enslaved woman, born in Minas Gerais, he moved with his parents to Lisbon while still young, and it was in the metropole that he developed his talent for the crafts linked to art.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a group of men in 18th-century formal attire. The central figure is wearing a brown suit and holding a map, while other men, some in military uniforms, watch attentively. The men are arranged in a straight line, with their faces turned toward the map. They all wear black shoes and knee breeches.

Upon returning permanently to Brazil in mid-1770, no longer with his father, he decides to live in Rio de Janeiro and open a workshop. Little by little, he becomes one of the leading names in the execution of sacred works and churches, as well as public works such as several fountains and the most famous of all: the Passeio Público. Sculptor, carver, architect, and urban planner, Valentim was of the utmost importance in the construction of Rio's landscape during the colonial period. During the administration of viceroy Dom Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa (1740-1807), Valentim planned and executed works, including those related to sanitation and water supply.

The artist, trained in Portugal during Lisbon's reconstruction phase - after the 1755 earthquake -, adopted both the Portuguese neoclassical Pombaline style and the marks of Brazilian colonial Rococo. His religious carvings in churches such as the Third Order of Our Lady of Carmo or the Order's Novitiate Chapel demonstrated Valentim's ability to adapt different styles, ranging from Pombaline sobriety to Joanine Baroque.

In the public works commissioned by Dom Luís Vasconcelos e Sousa, Valentim also displayed eclecticism, despite conforming to the Enlightenment-driven demands of the reforms proposed during the period led by the Marquis of Pombal and his viceroy in Rio de Janeiro. The execution of the Passeio Público between 1779 and 1783 (with the collaboration of the painter Leandro Joaquim and the decorators Francisco dos Santos Xavier and Francisco Xavier Cardoso de Almeida) demonstrated this ideal of order and beauty, in which nature adapts to the action of man. Although altered by Auguste François Marie Glaziou's renovation in the 1860s, the space has been, since its inauguration, a landmark of the city's urban life.

Image description: This is a photograph of two crocodile sculptures on a wall. On the left is a crocodile with its mouth open, showing sharp teeth. Next to it is another crocodile, also with its mouth open, but with its head turned backward. Both are positioned on a concrete wall, with purple plants behind them. The plants grow over a rock in the background.

Among the many fountains and monuments that Mestre Valentim produced for Rio, the most significant are undoubtedly the Chafariz do Carmo, now located in Praça XV, the Chafariz das Marrecas, in the Passeio Público, the Chafariz das Saracuras (1795), currently located in Praça General Osório, as well as pieces for churches such as Nossa Senhora da Conceição e Boa Morte, whose main altar and entrance portal are by Mestre Valentim.

Image description: This is a photograph of an altar inside a church. The image shows ornamental and decorative details in tones of gold and white. On the left side, we see a structure with decorative elements and hanging light fixtures. In the center, there is an altar with a centered image of a religious figure dressed in white, flanked by two candelabra. On the right, there is a pulpit with ornamental details. The background features an opening revealing an illuminated scene, possibly representing a celestial or sacred event.