Antonio Francisco Lisboa: Aleijadinho

High altar of the church of São Francisco de Assis, Ouro Preto. Source: http://www.eravirtual.org/op/

Lateral altar of Saint John the Baptist, Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, Ouro Preto. Source: https://acervodigital.unesp.br/handle/unesp/252186

Why the controversy?

Celebrated as the best sculptor (and sometimes architect) of colonial Brazil, Antonio Francisco Lisboa worked throughout Minas Gerais in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A large body of architectural ornament and freestanding sculpture in wood and stone, as well as some decorative art objects, are associated with him. He is known for being among the first artists of the region to incorporate rococo stylistic elements, and his sculptures are lively, expressive, and theatrical.

Although much of his body of work is attributed based on stylistic analysis, extensive archival research has identified dozens of records that name the artist. Nevertheless, many details of Lisboa's life and work are shrouded in mystery. He rose to national attention with the 1858 publication of a biography by Rodrigo José Ferreira Bretas that paints a dramatic image of the artist’s physical appearance, personality, and life. Although Antonio Francisco Lisboa had died decades earlier, Bretas based the biography on archival records and interviews with those who had known the artist, including his daughter-in-law, Joana Lopes.

Bretas recounts that Antonio Francisco Lisboa was born in 1730, the illegitimate son of the Portuguese architect Manoel Francisco Lisboa and and an enslaved woman named Isabel. According to Bretas, a devastating disease disfigured Antonio Francisco Lisboa's hands and feet when he was in his forties. Thereafter, he was supposedly known by the nickname “Aleijadinho” meaning “Little Cripple.” Nevertheless, Lisboa continued to work and to become the region’s most esteemed sculptor and architect.

Although this narrative has directed how Lisboa has been viewed since, Bretas had a specific agenda, was prone to romantic hyperbole, and much of his account relies on a dubious source. He transcribes a large portion of text from a 1790 manuscript by captain Jose Joaquim da Silva. However, to this day this manuscript has not been found. Bretas may have invented, or at least modified, the text. If the manuscript indeed existed, it was an extraordinary text: Brazil’s first piece of art criticism.

Bretas, Rodrigo José Ferreira. “Traços Biographicos Relativos ao Finado Antonio Francisco Lisboa distincto escultor mineiro, mais conhecido pelo appellido de—Aleijadinho,” Correio Official de Minas 169 (1858): 3-4, and volume 170 (1858): 2-3. http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/717576/289
http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/717576/292

Was he disabled?

While some scholars have claimed to have discovered documents that refer to Antonio Francisco Lisboa by the name "Aleijadinho," those sources have mysteriously vanished. One source from Lisboa's lifetime does, however, suggest that the artist might have suffered from physical ailments of some kind. In 1811 Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, a German mineralogist, visited the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos in Congonhas do Campo. Antonio Francisco Lisboa's role in sculpting the wooden figures in the Stations of the Cross chapels and the stone sculptures along the steps of the church is well documented.

Although he did not name the artist, Eschwege wrote of his visit:
“The preeminent sculptor, who distinguished himself here, is a crippled man with lame hands, he has the chisel strapped on to himself and therewith carries out the most artistic works, but sometimes his drapery and figures are tasteless and disproportionate; otherwise, the beautiful facilities of the man, who was completely self-taught and never saw anything, are not to be mistaken.”

Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, Journal von Brasilien, oder Vermischte Nachrichten aus Brasilien, auf Wissenschaftlichen Reisen Gesammelt, part 2 (Weimar: Im Verlage des Gr. H.S. pr. Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, 1818), 132.

Bretas described the disease as beginning in 1777:
“Antonio Francisco lost all of the toes on his feet, which resulted in the inability to walk unless on his knees: the fingers of his hands atrophied and curved, and also ended up falling off, leaving him only the thumbs and index fingers, and even so almost without movement.”

Neither Eschwege nor Bretas ever met the artist and Antonio Francisco Lisboa's continuing ability to sculpt, draw, and write suggests that his disfiguration was exaggerated.

Receipt of payment for work on the high altar of the church of Sao Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto, written and signed by Antonio Francisco Lisboa in 1792

Receipt of payment for work on the sculptures of the Stations of the Cross at Congonhas do Campo, written and signed by Antonio Francisco Lisboa in 1802

Church of São Francisco de Assis, Ouro Preto

Was he pardo?

Some scholars have questioned whether Antonio Francisco Lisboa was indeed the son of the architect Manoel Francisco Lisboa. The sculptor's names were not uncommon, and the similarity with the Portuguese architect might have been a coincidence. A. J. R. Russell-Wood has hypothesized that the surname “Lisboa” might indicate that the artist’s place of origin was Lisbon, Portugal. Understandably, this idea has not been met with enthusiasm. If true, the most celebrated artist of colonial Brazil would have been neither Brazilian nor of mixed race.

One of the many records documenting Antonio Francisco Lisboa’s involvement in the creation of the church of São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto offers compelling evidence for the artist’s African descent. Antonio Francisco Lisboa was paid to assess the finished church. Inspecting and approving the work was a task typically reserved for the architect. This suggests that Lisboa may have designed the structure but that discriminatory customs against people of African descent prevented him from being officially recognized as architect.

Numerous other documents refer to a man named Antonio Francisco Lisboa who was pardo, a term used to describe people of mixed race. Without specific reference to the profession as a sculptor or inclusion of a signature, these records may be discussing a different man of the same name. However, currently most scholars agree that at least some of the documents attest to the artist's mixed race.

Resources

Documentary Evidence

Gallery