From European Libraries to Mission Workshops: The Circulation of Emblem Books and Religious Space Decoration in Portuguese America (16th - 18th centuries)

Abstract

The purpose of this Post-Doctoral research project is to investigate the circulation of Emblem Books and the use of emblems in the decoration of religious spaces in Portuguese America (former States in Brazil, and the States of Maranhão and Grão-Pará) from the 16th to the 18th centuries. In order to do this, as well as conducting a study on the emblem tradition in Europe we need to verify the presence of Emblem Books in the day-to-day of American missions and investigate the use of emblems in the decoration of churches, convents and religious order schools in Colonial Brazil. In this respect, the joint analysis of the circulation of Emblem Books both through Catalogue manuscripts of old mission bookshops and collections of rare books from Brazilian Libraries such as in the Jesus Order Mission Schools and other religious orders in Portuguese America, intends to contribute to the studies of the emblematic tradition in Brazil in the sphere of the research proposed by the Plus-Ultra Theme Project : the reception and transfer of the classical artistic tradition between Mediterranean Europe and Latin America.