ABSTRACT
Focused on the case of the El Cristiano cannon, this paper aims to discuss the extralegal factors that determine the repatriation of cultural properties to their countries of origin. Part of the material culture of the Paraguayan War (1864-1870), the cannon was captured as a war trophy by the Brazilian army and now integrates the collection of the National Historical Museum. Although the Brazilian government started the restitution of El Cristiano to Paraguay in 2010, more than ten years later, such a return was not concluded. From theorists of the Cultural Heritage and Law field, the analysis of documents produced in this process indicated that the impasse in the cannon restitution accounts for different immaterialities permeating this cultural property, such as the memories, values, and discourses triggered by holistic rhetoric of both countries, legitimizing both the claim for El Cristiano in Paraguay and the defense of its permanence in Brazil.
KEYWORDS:
Cultural heritage; Repatriation; El Cristiano; Paraguayan war