Ouro Preto’s Treasures
April 25, 2011
With the dramatic hills of Ouro Preto, its churches make the perfect crown to each hilltop. There are too many of these jewels to visit all of them in just a few days, but we managed to visit six plus three others in neighboring Mariana. In the photo above, you can see the corner of the Igreja Sȁo Francisco de Paulo with the distinctive peak, Itacolomi, in the distance.
Aside from the obvious Catholicism, one theme that ties them all together is the prolific and masterful influence of the sculptor Aleijadinho (pronounced: allay-gsa-jean-yo), whose expressive carvings are present in nearly every church.
He came into the world via an unlikely pairing of an architect and a black woman, and left the world a blind cripple, presumably suffering from leprosy for many of his last years. The great influence that he achieves, along with his painter cohort, Ataide, is truly remarkable and inspiring. They say that he continued to carve even after he could no longer walk.
His masterpiece is the Igreja Sȁo Francisco de Assis (above), which is indeed beautiful. Unfortunately, none of the churches in Ouro Preto allowed photography inside the church, so I can only show you external images. Nevertheless, even the exterior shows some of the emotion and vibrance evident in Aleijadinho’s sculpture.
Below is the Igreja de Mercês e Perdões, which charmingly translates to the Church of Favors and Pardons. We admired it from afar, as we did not get there to go inside.
