Tiradentes is one of the towns in Minas Gerais (General Mines) the great mining district of Brazil inland and north of Rio de Janeiro. Today these towns are renowned for their cobbled streets, old houses and amazing Baroque churches. I long to get there! However the history of how they developed is shameful and does not paint a good picture of how the Portuguese treated people in their colonies. I am striving to find something good to say!
Tiradentes was originally called Sao Jose and was founded in the early 1700s. It still has winding streets, cobblestones and houses which are typically low. It was renamed in honour of locally born Joaquim Jose de Silva Xavier - nickname Tiradentes (meaning tooth puller, because he was a doctor and dentist)). He took part in a revolt against the Portuguese authorities. This was the era of revolutions. The Americans had already gained their independence from Britain snd \Frsnce was in revolutionary convulsions. It was unsuccessful and gallantly he accepted much of the responsibility. In 1792 he was hung and quartered in Rio de Janeiro. His severed head was displayed in the square in nearby Ouro Preto. (I shall return to this remarkable place in a future post.)The name of his home town was changed in his honour.
The Rococo exterior of the San Antonio church is typical of the area with single doorway and two towers in which yellow and white dominate. There were no earlier architectural syles in vogue in Minas Gerais because the mining began in the 18th century when Rococo was in favour. The church is one of the last works of the most famous Brazilian sculptor and architect, Antonio Francisco Lisboa (known as Aleijadinho which means little cripple). Born in 1730 at Ouro Preto, the natural son of a Negro slave and the Portuguese architect Manoel Francisco Lisboa, he went on to make architectural plans and sculpt in wood and stone. As a mulatto he had to be limited to piece work and always be a subordinate : such were the discriminations of Braziliian society at that time.In his forties he contracted a life-changing disease (leprosy?). He lost some fingers and toes and became repulsive in appearance and character. He continued to work, fixing his pen or carving tool to the stump of his hand, dying in povety in 1814 aged 84. He was a remarkable man and regarded now as a great artist.
See video below for aerial iew of the town and church
I find it hard to describe the interior. The nave ceiling has square boards painted with medallions and with gilded frames. (see the organ photo below). The apse shimmers with white and gold leaf and elaborately costumed angels and allegorical figures. The ceiling is covered with arabesque patterns painted in tempera (pigments mixed with egg yolk).
The organ is famous with pipes brought over from Porto in Portugal and assembled in a locally made case in 1786. The organ's position allows the organist to follow the service and direct a choir at the same time, something I attempt to do in 2019 at the very different St Bartolomew's Church in St Albans, UK!
This gives an idea of the sound of this remarkable organ
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| View of altar from my organ in St Bartholomwe's St Albans England. Note hot water bottle for cold hands on the seat! |
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| Another view of St Barts |
Final video : really good if you understand Portuguese...
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