Pedro Américo
1843–1905 · Brazil · Academicism, Romanticism, Neoclassicism
The story
Almost every Brazilian knows one painting by Pedro Américo even if they don't know his name. His enormous 'Independence or Death', finished in 1888, freezes the moment in 1822 when Prince Pedro, on horseback by the Ipiranga brook near São Paulo, raised his sword and declared Brazil free of Portugal.
Américo was a prodigy from the poor northeastern interior, sent to study in Rio and then Europe on public money, and he came home a polished academic history painter. He staged national scenes on a huge scale, battles and allegories meant to give the young empire a heroic past.
He worked his final years in Italy and died in Florence in 1905. His independence canvas still hangs in the memorial built on the Ipiranga site.
