Abstract:
In this paper, I analyze the uncertainties around the Aleijadinho’s works, with a view to emphasizing how arguments about expertise are triggered in elaborations about the attribution of authorship. I initially present the artificer/artist and how the reference of the anthropology of admiration (Heinich 1991) is useful to understand the effects of the mythification of his trajectory and the importance given to his works in the field of Brazilian art. Then, I show how such works and other images are linked to notions of authorship, style and originality. I point out, finally, that images of saints and other works of art can be configured as artifacts that must be deciphered by a particular look, that reveals affinities between artistic and magico-religious domains.
Keywords:
Aleijadinho; expertise; sacred art; attribution of authorship; connoisseurship