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Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
Ouro Preto, Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Religious Architecture
Before building their definitive church, the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People functioned in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Pilar and, from 1709 onwards, in a temporary chapel located in the Bairro do Caquende. Since the parish church was closed for works, this chapel received the parochial tabernacle in 1731; the Blessed Sacrament was restored to its original place, in 1733, being transferred during the “Eucharistic Triumph” procession. The information that is available about the author of the design and the period when the definitive chapel was built in masonry and stone is very unclear. According to a report made in the late 18th century by a councillor from Mariana, the plan for this church and that of Saint Peter of the Clergymen in Mariana were drawn up by the Portuguese António de Souza Calheiros, but there is no other document confirming this. According to scholars, such projects – considered “revolutionary” within the context of the religious architecture of the Minas region in that period – drew their inspiration from the Churches of Saint Peter of the Clergymen in the cities of Porto and Rio de Janeiro. What is known for sure is that the aforementioned churches of Ouro Preto and Mariana are similar in many aspects (an elliptical floor plan, a curvilinear façade and roof, the presence of a galilee) and that in 1762 the builder José Pereira dos Santos was responsible for both works. It is also known that Manuel Francisco de Araújo (who also had a hand in the building of the Church of Saint Peter of the Clergymen) prepared a “design of the gable and frontispiece” for the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary in 1784 – which was probably a modification of the original project. The following year, this part of the work and the construction of the towers was completed by José Ribeiro de Carvalhais. The interior decoration of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary dates from the last two decades of the 18th century. The side altars were made by José Rodrigues da Silva and Manuel José Velasco. The curious “trompe l’oeil paintings imitating wood carving” were made by the artists Manuel Ribeiro Rosa and José Gervásio de Sousa (the latter also painted the panels of the sacristy between 1792 and 1794). The painting of the ceiling of the nave was never completed. The construction of the churchyard was only finished in 1820 by Manuel António Viana and José Veloso Carmo.
Cláudia Damasceno Fonseca