Arte e Estado: um olhar sobre o mecenato artístico no Segundo Reinado (1840-1889)

Abstract

From the date of its founding in 1826, the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, one of the main official institutions of the period, became responsible for creating national symbols, in charge of the formation of a national imaginary. The need to provide the country with a single coherent past has become one of the main demands of the post-independence project, through which it sought to form a State and build a Nation in tropical soil. This research fits into the current trend of Brazilian historiography and seeks to promote a critical re-evaluation of artistic production context of the 19th century, having as study object the interdependent relationship established between the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and the Imperial State during the Second Empire (1840 to 1889). Specifically, we analyze the artistic patronage phenomenon in the official scenario of the Eighteen hundreds, understanding it as a dialogical process, involving the financing of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts by the Imperial Government and the provision of services by the artistic institution. We also raised information about the artists funded by the Imperial Household and commissioned works and/ or acquired by state bodies over the proposed period. By processing the data obtained, we aimed to identify the valued artistic themes between 1840 and 1889, relating them to the period where they were produced and acquired.