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Fountains
Ouro Preto, Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Equipment and Infrastructures
Of the eighteen fountains existing in Ouro Preto, six were listed by IPHAN in 1950. The initiative for the construction of these fountains came from the Municipal Senate. Some of their builders also worked on the construction of the city’s bridges, as was the case with Master António da Silva Herdeiro, who was granted several building contracts. In the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, almost all of the fountains in Ouro Preto were repaired and listed. After this, IPHAN carried out further restoration work. The Chafariz dos Contos was originally named the Chafariz de São José; its present name came into being after the construction of the neighbouring Casa dos Contos. The building contract had been awarded in April 1745 to João Domingues da Veiga; the fountain bears the inscription “1760”, which probably alludes to the year of its completion. However, the possibility has already been vented that this is not the same construction that was finished in 1745, since there is a document from 1786 mentioning the transfer of the “fountain of the square of the São José Bridge” to Rua das Flores. The most interesting detail is the composition with volutes and ogees with a large shell in the centre from where the two spouts protrude. As its name indicates, the Passo de António Dias Fountain is located in front of the oratory with the same name in the former Rua Direita of that parish. According to tradition, it is one of the oldest fountains in Ouro Preto, certainly dating from before 1752. It is composed of a masonry frontispiece flanked by a stone frame and displaying at the centre an ashlar composition with a shell and three gargoyles with their respective spouts. The Glória Fountain is located in Rua António de Albuquerque, the former Rua da Glória, in the parish of Pilar de Ouro Preto. its construction was contracted to António Fernandes Barros and António da Silva Herdeiro, basically following the same design used in the construction of the Passo de António Dias Fountain. A plaque above the cymatium has an extremely mutilated Latin inscription and the date of 1753 on a panel. The name of the Marília Fountain, located in front of the António Dias Bridge, was due to its proximity to the house where Maria Dorotéia Joaquina de Seixas – the “Marília de Dirceu” from the lyrical poems by Tomás António Gonzaga – had lived. Its construction was contracted in December 1758 to Manuel Francisco Lisboa. The main body is notable for the large stone baroque cartouche with four gargoyles crowned with volutes covered with acanthus leaves. The construction of the small Alto das Cabeças Fountain was commissioned in 1763 from Francisco de Lima Cerqueira. The most interesting detail of this fountain is the two intertwined fish, carved in soapstone, from where the spouts protrude. The contract for the construction of the Alto da Cruz Fountain was awarded to Henrique Gomes de Brito in December 1757. The possibility has been suggested that Manuel Francisco Lisboa and O Aleijadinho may have participated in its construction, with the latter being responsible for the female bust at the top bearing the inscription “1761”.
Cláudia Damasceno Fonseca