독립이냐 죽음이냐

The scene shows the moment in September 1822 when Dom Pedro I, on the banks of the Ipiranga brook near São Paulo, declared Brazil free of Portugal. But Pedro Américo painted it 66 years later, and entirely in Florence, far from Brazil, building a national origin story rather than a report. Historians point out the liberties. The escort rode mules, not these spirited cavalry horses, up the coastal mountains, and the uniforms are far too crisp for men days deep in a hard journey. The painter wanted grandeur, and got it. When the finished canvas was first shown at the Florence Academy in 1888, among the visitors who came to see it were the Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II and Queen Victoria of Britain.