The centennial commemoration of Brazil's Independence in 1922 offered the director of the Museu Paulista at that time, Affonso de Escragnole Taunay, the opportunity to organize public exhibitions dedicated to an archaizing recreation of São Paulo's urban past. Part of this commemoration resulted in commissioning well known artists to produce oil canvasses from 19th. - century photographic sources. The present study examines the visual strategies in the translation of dissimilar iconographic media, considered within the Museum's celebrative functions, and the ideological implications'in their nationalistic, pedagogic and conservational aims.
Iconology; Painting and photographic models; History of the imaginaire ("Colonial" São Paulo); History of collections (Museu Paulista, 1920's)