The Amazonian statue. A biography of a famous and polemic artifact from Brazil

Abstract A large stone statue was brought from the Amazon to France in 1848 by the explorer Francis de Castelnau. It depicts a being, apparently human, squatting, with his hands on his chest. Now exhibited at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, this piece created a strong controversy since it...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências humanas 2021, Vol.16 (2), p.1
Main Authors: Rostain, Stéphen, Barreto, Cristiana, Hamon, Caroline, Ruiz-Marmolejo, Magdalena, Delpuech, André
Format: Article
Language:eng ; por
Subjects:
19th century
Amazon
Archaeology and Prehistory
Chirac, Jacques
Cultural heritage
Explorer
Humanities and Social Sciences
Identity
Museum
Squatters
Stone statue
Theatre. Iconography
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract A large stone statue was brought from the Amazon to France in 1848 by the explorer Francis de Castelnau. It depicts a being, apparently human, squatting, with his hands on his chest. Now exhibited at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, this piece created a strong controversy since it was made public. In the mid-19th century, several Brazilian intellectuals strongly criticized the arrogant attitude of the Frenchman who had ‘looted’ their heritage. In reality, the reasons for this conflict are much deeper since they affect the very identity of the nation, then in formation. In any case, even a play was written to mock the explorer. This gave rise to doubts about the authenticity of the object, which has persisted to this day. The authors therefore studied the artifact to determine its cultural origin, while analyzing existing references to compare it with other pieces from the Amazon. They were thus able to validate the statue’s Amerindian identity, nearly 170 years after its discovery. Resumo Uma grande estátua de pedra foi trazida da Amazônia para a França em 1848 pelo explorador Francis de Castelnau. A escultura representa um personagem, aparentemente humano, agachado com as mãos no peito. Agora exposta no Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, esta peça gerou uma forte controvérsia desde quando foi tornada pública. Em meados do século XIX, vários intelectuais brasileiros criticaram fortemente a atitude arrogante do francês que havia ‘saqueado’ seu patrimônio. Na realidade, as razões deste conflito eram bem mais profundas, uma vez que afetavam a própria identidade da nação, então em formação. De qualquer forma, uma peça de teatro foi escrita para zombar o explorador. Isto deu origem a dúvidas sobre a autenticidade do objeto, que persistem até hoje. Por isso, os autores apresentam aqui um estudo do artefato para determinar sua origem cultural, analisando as referências existentes para compará-lo com outras peças da Amazônia. Assim, os autores conseguiram validar a identidade ameríndia da estátua, quase 170 anos após sua descoberta.
ISSN:1981-8122
2178-2547
DOI:10.1590/2178-2547-bgoeldi-2020-0038