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Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy
Ouro Preto, Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Religious Architecture
This chapel was probably one of the last to be built in the Serra do Ouro Preto. At the time of its listing by IPHAN (1939), the place had a deserted and desolate look and the chapel was simply encircled by “the ruins of the burned arraial of Pascoal da Silva” according to Manuel Bandeira. There is no information on the building’s history: the inscription “1720”, which can be seen on the cross of the pediment, probably corresponds to the date of the conclusion of the work. Like the chapels of Saint Anne and Saint John, which stand on the same hill, the chapel of Our Lady of Mercy has the same main characteristics as the early chapels built in the Minas region, such as the quadrangular floor plan, the walls built of stone chips mixed with canga, simple interior decoration without any significant wood carving and the plain composition of the façade. In this case, however, the frames of the doors and windows are in stone and the frontispiece has two open belfries (with just one bell) surmounted by semicircular arches.
Cláudia Damasceno Fonseca