Statue of Noel Rosa
Noel de Medeiros Rosa lived only 26 years, but his work and significance to the cultural identity of Rio de Janeiro were so immense, it seems as though he lived much longer. Noel Rosa wrote over 250 songs and forever changed the course of urban samba in Rio de Janeiro — a genre that, during the 1920s and 1930s, was undergoing significant transformations, particularly through its incorporation into the burgeoning cultural industry of the time.
Noel and his guitar. National Library Foundation
Noel Rosa is a symbol of Rio de Janeiro, and particularly of the Vila Isabel neighborhood. He was born in 1910, and lived his entire life — cut short by tuberculosis in his youth — at a single address: 30 Rua Teodoro da Silva. Although the house no longer exists, a building called Noel Rosa stands in its place (nowadays, No 392).
The house where Noel Rosa was born. National Archive
It’s no wonder that the residents of Vila Isabel hold Noel Rosa’s memory in such high regard. The “Poet of Vila” celebrated the neighborhood in his compositions, the most renowned being Feitiço da Vila — co-written with Vadico — featuring its iconic verses paying homage to Vila Isabel, where “quem é bacharel/ não tem medo de bamba” (“those with degrees/ aren’t afraid of samba masters”). And during the First Republic — when the presidency alternated between Minas Gerais and São Paulo — Rio had something extra to offer: “São Paulo dá café/ Minas dá leite/ E a Vila Isabel dá samba” (“São Paulo has coffee/ Minas has milk/ And Vila Isabel has samba”).
Given the composer’s affection for the neighborhood and the emotional bond its residents have with Noel, there is no better place for a statue in his honor. In addition, the way Noel Rosa has been represented in the statue is very fitting. Noel Rosa is all about celebrated sambas, rivalries between composers and of course the bohemian lifestyle. Noel was a regular at small local bars (botequins), where he imagined and wrote much of his work. He and his friends and lovers would sit round the tables of the bars and the waiters were like his work companions.
Noel Rosa´s Identity Card, dated 1935. National Library Foundation
A song perfectly captures the musician’s connection with the bars of Vila: Conversa de Botequim (Bar Banter). It was this classic of Brazilian popular music that served as the inspiration for the statue paying tribute to the composer. The monument depicts a scene that undoubtedly occurred many times: the musician seated at a table in a relaxed pose, drinking and smoking while being attended to by a waiter. The empty chair is available for anyone passing by to join Noel for some bar banter. The work was inaugurated in 1996 and is considered a pioneer, as Rio de Janeiro’s first interactive monument.
The monument is framed by four stylized doors made of granite and iron. The Paraíba-born artist Joás Pereira dos Passos — also known for other notable statues in Rio, such as those of Luiz Gonzaga in São Cristóvão and Getúlio Vargas in Glória — stated that he designed the statue to look “as if [Noel] were composing with a matchbox.”
Photo: Beth Santos/Rio de Janeiro City Hall
The piece was subjected to theft and vandalism multiple times. Despite restoration efforts by the City Hall, parts of the monument continued to be stolen: the beer glass, the chair support, and even the waiter, of whom only parts of the legs and feet remained. The monument gradually disappeared, until in 2019, the statue was removed and stored in a depot, leaving an empty space in Largo do Maracanã square. However, the residents of the neighborhood got together to bring back the monument, and on 10 December 2021, the artist´s 111th birthday, the bronze Noel Rosa returned to the square, where he awaits his next companion for some banter.
