From quills to brushes: the past of São Paulo (re)created in orders from Afonso Taunay to Oscar Pereira da Silva

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the five paintings by Oscar Pereira da Silva (1865 [7?] - 1939), commissioned by Museu Paulista’s board of directors, represented by Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay (1876 - 1958), and destined to the Antiga Iconografia Paulista (Ancient São Paulo’s Iconography) room, which was opened to the public in 1922. Attention is drawn to the visual matrices selected by Taunay, such as those made by Hercule Florence (1804 - 1879), Aimé-Adrien Taunay (1803 - 1828) and Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768 - 1848), dating from the first decades of the 19^th century and enlarged by Pereira da Silva in oil on canvas paintings almost 100 years later. Given the scarce iconography inherited from the past of São Paulo, the production of such images based on documents that were considered as authentic in Taunay's historical conception, would inform visitors about themes related to the history of São Paulo, such as monsoons and bandeiras. Changes that were made when enlarging the drawings, engravings and illustrations are also discussed, since these were taken as visual sources for the paintings, highlighting or obscuring certain elements contained in these images, adapting them to the glorification discourse proposed within the Museum. Its doors were reopened precisely for the celebrations of the Brazilian Independence Centenary, in a period when the economic and political strength of the state of São Paulo, when compared to other states of the federation, was justified by acts considered as heroic that were conducted by paulistas, as these paintings would attest.

Keywords:
Afonso Taunay; Painting; Oscar Pereira da Silva; Antiga Iconografia Paulista; commission