Bom Jesus de Matosinhos
Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, Congonhas do Campo, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Black and white photograph. [1940].
Africans, who were brought to Brazil as slaves to work on plantations in increasing numbers from the late 1500s, comprised an important part of the population and contributed significantly to the wealth and uniqueness of Brazilian culture. This image depicts women on their way to church to be baptized. There were in Rio de Janeiro, by the early 1800s, at least three churches served by free black priests. The photograph expresses a fusion of cultures and beliefs that came to typify Brazil in the years after the Portuguese conquest. This church, the church of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos and its sanctuary, established as a parish in 1746, is famous for the artistic work of the celebrated Brazilian architect and sculptor António Francisco Lisboa, or O Aleijadinho.
Archive of Hispanic Culture
Prints and Photographs Division
