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| Jean Baptiste Debret - Return of the Naturalist Black Assistant |
The majestic tapestries known as Teinture des Indes, realised on the basis of works commissioned by Maurice of Nassau, would only become well known through the examples made by the Gobelin factory in Paris. The Anciennes Indes started to be woven in 1687, based on cartoons which are possibly by Eckhout, and derived from sources which are not fully known, but which do not exclude the paintings - some of them by Frans Post and Eckhout - presented by Prince Maurice of Nassau to King Louis XIV of France. The Nouvelles Indes were woven between 1735 and 1799, and Fran~ois Desportes dedicated himself to producing new designs for this purpose, altering and making additions to the previous models.
The series, which comprises eight tapestries, demonstrates a largely decorative intention, as shown in the intertwined configuration of each one. Four tapestries from the Nouvelles Indes series are on show in this exhibition. In the work known as Combat of the Animals, animals are intertwined in a chain showing the cycle of life, without any pretension that they present a coherent group.
Not everything shown in the tapestries can be attributed to exoticism. It is also possible to see a biblical conception, similar to that of the Flemish Landscapes of Genesis for example. The exuberance of the Indias tapestries is above all due to the rich profusion of detail woven in a huge variety of colours.
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| Joaquim Jose de Miranda - The Exedition of Lt. Colonel Afonso Botelho de Sampaio e Souza into the Tibagi Backlands |
The classical features of Brazilian Indians in contact with exuberant nature are seen in the tapestries entitled The Indian Hunter {Fig. 9) and The Fishermen {Fig. 10). The tapestry entitled The King Borne in Triumph shows an African king carried in a litter by two Moors, and does not refer to the blacks of Brazil, who were slaves.
Finally, it should be noted that the eight exotic themes which make up the complete series of tapestries have resulted in successive transpositions of the flora and fauna, American Indians from Chile and Brazil, and kings and slaves from Africa.
The repeated appropriation of drawings done by Dutch artists in Brazil and by artists in Europe is one of the best examples of the migration of images between countries through the medium of artists and artisans.
Great works of art of Dutch origin, such as the Indias tapestries, show the Dutch state of mind more than the Brazilian reality, and present features as perceived from a Dutch point of view. The establishment of forts on the Atlantic coast of Africa, necessary for European shipping, turned Africa, from a Dutch point of view, into an appendage of America, as can be seen in works by Eckhout and by the school of the Peeters brothers, which are full of combinations from the various Dutch overseas dominions. The Dutch outlook saw the scope of its empire as effectively comprehending the route linking Africa to Brazil and the West Indies. Within this perspective there was a mixture of motifs from Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Africa.
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| Joaquim Jose de Miranda - The Exedition of Lt. Colonel Afonso Botelho de Sampaio e Souza into the Tibagi Backlands |
The second 18th century work chosen is illustrative of the age of territorial expansion in Brazil and the series of expeditions of reconnaissance and settlement in the lands of the native Americans. An unusual record of this period is to be found in the work of Joaquim Jose de Miranda, a kind of picture history of the events in the Tibagi River area. The visual narrative, almost like a sermon, unfolds in a direct and natural way in thirty seven pictures. It represents the meeting of the expedition commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Afonso Botelho de Sampaio e Souza - aide-de-camp to Morgado Mateus, Governor of the Captaincy of Sao Paulo - with the Indians of the region of Campos do Carrapato. The expedition to survey the territory and its resources and to convert the natives took place in 1771. The charm of the rudimentary style, repeated throughout the drawings, stems from the central leitmotif of clothed and naked humanity, the meeting and clash of civilizations.