Victor Meirelles de Lima

Victor Meirelles was a Brazilian painter and teacher who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history. He was born in 1832 in Florianópolis, the son of Portuguese immigrants. He showed an early talent for art and was admitted as a student at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. He won a scholarship to study in Europe, where he spent several years in Paris, Florence and Rome, learning from masters such as Léon Cogniet and Paul Delaroche. He painted his best-known work, The First Mass in Brazil, in Paris, and exhibited it at the Salon of 1861. It was the first Brazilian painting to participate in an international exhibition and earned him the title of Imperial Knight of the Order of the Rose and the position of honorary professor at the Academy. He returned to Brazil in 1860 and became one of Emperor Pedro II's favorite painters, receiving many commissions from the Imperial Family and the government. He painted other important historical scenes, such as The Battle of Guararapes, Moema and The Naval Battle of Riachuelo, as well as portraits and landscapes. He also created three panoramas of Rio de Janeiro, which were displayed in a specially built pavilion. He was considered one of the leading artists of the second reign and one of the forerunners of modern Brazilian painting. He was also a respected teacher at the Academy, forming a generation of painters. However, he also faced criticism and controversy, especially from the early modernists who challenged his academic style and accused him of plagiarism. With the advent of the Republic in Brazil, he fell into ostracism and poverty, as his works were no longer appreciated or commissioned. He died in 1903, at the age of 70, from pneumonia, in his modest home in Rio de Janeiro. He was buried at the Cemitério São Francisco de Paula. His works are now considered national treasures and are displayed in museums and public buildings. He is regarded as one of the main Brazilian painters of the 19th century and one of the most celebrated visual recreators of Brazilian history.