In 1815, Portugal reestablished its relations with France, following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the return of the Bourbon dynasty to power. Many French artists who had supported Napoleon wished to leave France, fearing reprisals, and found in D. João VI and the Count of Barca (Antônio de Araújo de Azevedo) patrons willing to hire them. Thus, on March 26, 1816, the French Artistic Mission landed in Rio de Janeiro, led by Joachim Lebreton - permanent secretary of the fine arts class of the Royal Institute of France.
Image description: This is a painting depicting a man seated in a chair. The figure occupies most of the image, with a blurred grayscale background. The individual is wearing a dark brown suit with a white shirt and a red and black striped tie. One hand rests on the arm of the chair, while the other arm is folded across his chest.Joachim Lebreton, leader of the French Artistic Mission. Portrait by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1795. Wikimedia Commons
With their trip paid for by the Brazilian government, among the main participants were painters, sculptors, blacksmiths, and engineers. Jean-Baptiste Debret, Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, and Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny are some of the many artists who left important scenes engraved in Rio's history. The sculptor and engraver Marc Ferrez (uncle of the famous photographer of the same name) and the medal engraver Zéphyrin Ferrez (Marc's brother) joined the Mission months after the arrival of the first artists.
Debret set up his studio in the Catumbi neighborhood and became the official painter at the Court of D. João VI and, later, of D. Pedro I. He let himself be enchanted by the exuberance and novelty of the landscapes he saw here, by the baroque customs, and recorded it all in his plates and books, as in the famous
Picturesque and Historic Voyage to Brazil
...these images are invaluable documentation for the study of Brazilian culture and landscape of that era.
Image description: This is a black-and-white engraving. In the upper part, we see a building with arches and curtains. On the left, a small crowd is raising their arms and holding flags. On the right, a large crowd is agitated, with some individuals raising their arms. In the center, a raised platform holds people who are interacting with the crowd below. In the background, there is another building and a hill. The inscription on the image reads: "ACCLAMATION DE DON PÉDRO I EMPEREUR DU BRÉSIL, au camp de St. Anne à Rio-de-Janeiro."Acclamation of D. Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil. Jean-Baptiste Debret, lithograph on paper, 1839. Brasiliana Collection/Pinacoteca de São Paulo.
The architect Grandjean de Montigny carried out the remodeling of the city, introducing the neoclassical aesthetic and overcoming the baroque influence. He designed the first official headquarters of the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes (1826) – of which only the portico remains, in the city's Jardim Botânico; the Solar Grandjean de Montigny (1828), his house in Gávea and, today, the Centro Cultural da PUC-Rio; the Praça Monumental do Campo de Santana (1827 project, never built); the first headquarters of the Customs House (a building on Praça do Comércio), completed in 1820 and now home to the Casa França-Brasil; as well as several other sanitation and urbanization projects.
Image description: This is a photograph of a classical building with two main façades. The main façade is located on the right, with a wide, well-defined staircase leading to the upper level. On the left, there is a white wall with rounded windows and a small entrance. The roof is covered with clay tiles and has a structure of white columns supporting the upper floor. At the top, there are balconies with metal railings. Abundant green vegetation is spread around the building, including potted plants and trees.The Solar Grandjean de Montigny, a project from 1828 that today houses the headquarters of the PUC-Rio Cultural Center, in Gávea. IPatrimônio website
Many of these projects ultimately did not come to fruition. In 1826, he drew up a plan for an extensive monumental avenue that would link Campo de Santana, Largo do Rossio, and Praça XV, on which a new and imposing imperial palace would be built. In 1827, he prepared a new, symmetrical and regular urban layout for the Mangue de São Diogo. He also proposed a remodeling of Campo de Santana, which would be surrounded by public, political, and administrative buildings, taking the French squares as a model. The idea was to create a new center of power, set apart from Praça XV and facing toward the side of the city that was growing.
Montigny -- as an architecture professor at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes -- was responsible for training an entire generation of Rio architects.
Image description: This is a historic photograph of a building with classical architecture. On the left side, we see a column with a female statue. In the center, there is a large arch with a male statue standing out. On the right, another column with a female statue completes the symmetry. The building has a façade with many architectural details, including windows and a pediment with sculptures. At the center of the façade, there is a plaque with legible text.Facade of the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, designed by Grandjean de Montigny. Photo by Marc Ferrez, 1891. Wikimedia Commons
Marc Ferrez, in turn, created an artistic and architectural tradition, passed down to his descendants, which formed an important basis for the analysis of Rio's urban landscape. Working alongside him was Zéphyrin Ferrez, who collaborated with Debret and Grandjean de Montigny on the decoration of Rio de Janeiro's streets and squares.
