Brazil, 2006
Photo Gallery 17:
Congonhas
Photos by Adam Jones
Congonhas is a formerly wealthy, today rather scruffy mining town in Minas
Girais, renowned for one magnificent work: the "12 Profetas" of Brazil's (and the
Americas') greatest sculptor, Aleijadinho, whose final masterpiece was to adorn the
Santuário do Senhor Bom Jesus de Mastosinhos with his statues of the Old Testament
prophets, and, in the chapels below the basilica, exquisite baroque carvings of the
passion of Christ. Aleijadinho did all this in the mid- to late-18th century, until his
great old age, crippled, with the sculpting tools strapped to his hands, and with the help
of a retinue of acolytes (it is uncertain how much of the work he personally sculpted,
and how much he simply directed). I went a bit wild with the sepia effect on my camera,
but the results are worthwhile, I feel.
I.
These sculptures (this photo and following) are in wood
and roughly life-size.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
