Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ALEIJADINHO
Although little is known of his life, we do know roughly what the renowned sculptor
Aleijadinho
looked like. In the Museu do Aleijadinho in Ouro Preto (see p.161), a crude but
vivid portrait shows an intense, aquiline man who is clearly what Brazilians call
pardo
- of mixed
race. His hands are under his jacket, which seems a trivial detail unless you know what makes
his achievements truly astonishing: the great sculptor of the
barroco mineiro
was presumed to
be a leper, and produced much of his best work after he had lost the use of his hands.
Antônio Francisco Lisboa was born in
Ouro Preto
in 1738, the son of a Portuguese
craftsman; his mother was probably a slave. For the first half of his exceptionally long life he
was perfectly healthy, a womanizer and
bon viveur
despite his exclusively religious output. His
prodigious talent - equally on display in wood or stone, human figures or abstract decoration
- allowed him to set up a workshop with apprentices while still young, and he was much in
demand. Although always based in Ouro Preto, he spent long periods in all the major historic
towns (except Diamantina) working on commissions, but never travelled beyond the state.
Self-taught, he was an obsessive reader of the Bible and medical textbooks (the only two
obvious influences in his work), one supplying its imagery, the other underlying the
anatomical detail of his human figures.
In the late 1770s, Aleijadinho's life changed utterly. He began to suffer from a progressively
debilitating disease, thought to have been
leprosy
. As it got worse he became a recluse, only
venturing outdoors in the dark, and became increasingly obsessed with his work. His physical
disabilities were terrible: he lost his fingers, toes and the use of his lower legs. Sometimes the
pain was so bad his apprentices had to stop him hacking away at the offending part of his
body with a chisel.
Yet despite all this, Aleijadinho actually increased his output, working with hammer and chisel
strapped to his wrists by his apprentices, who moved him about on a wooden trolley. Under
these conditions he sculpted his masterpiece, the 12 massive figures of the prophets and the
64 life-size Passion figures for the
Basílica do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos
(see p.167)
in Congonhas, between 1796 and 1805. The figures were his swansong; failing eyesight finally
forced him to stop work and he ended his life as a hermit in a hovel on the outskirts of Ouro
Preto. The death he longed for finally came on November 18, 1814; he is buried in a simple
grave in the church he attended all his life, Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Ouro Preto.
2
its simple, irregularly shaped exterior is topped off by the kind of tower more usually
seen on colonial churches in China, complete with pagoda-like upturns at the corners.
The cramped, lavishly decorated interior, dominated by a gilded arch over the altar and
smothered with gorgeous paintings and murals, also shows some oriental influences;
the octagonal painted panels in the arch feature unmistakably Chinese boats, birds and
pagodas. Constructed between 1717 and 1720 (the “Ó” supposedly comes from the loud
“oh” given out by churchgoers during services), the most likely explanation is that, like
the Conceição church, Chinese craftsmen from Macau were responsible for the design.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
SABARÁ
By bus
In Belo Horizonte catch the red #1988 bus (every
15min from 4am to midnight; R$3.20) from Rua dos Caetés,
one block up from Av Afonso Pena and the main bus station.
The 20km journey on BR-262 along the Rio das Velhas valley
takes roughly 40min, with buses terminating at Sabará bus
station on Rua Ajuda at the far eastern end of town (opposite
the giant ArcelorMittal steel plant). Get off before this: ask
the driver to drop you at the best stop for the
centro histórico
,
which should be somewhere on Av Prefeito Vitor Fantini (the
name of BR-262 as it skirts the old town along the river).
From here it's a short walk up Rua Dom Pedro II to Praça Santa
Rita. Buses back to Belo Horizonte are best caught on the
same stretch of road (there's a bus stop close to the junction
of Rua Dom Pedro II and Av Prefeito Vitor Fantini).
By taxi
Belo Horizonte taxis should take you to Sabará
without any fuss, though they'll use the meter: expect to
pay around R$60 one-way from downtown, depending on
where you start.
Tourist information
Av Expedicionário Romeu Jerônimo
Dantas (BR-262) on the western edge of town (
T
31 3671
403,
W
sabara.org.br). Only really of use if you are arriving
by car; otherwise you'll have to get off the bus to visit and
walk the remaining 1km into town (or wait for the next
bus; you'll have to pay again, however).
