José Joaquim da Rocha
Brazilian painter / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
José Joaquim da Rocha (c. 1737 - Salvador, October 12, 1807) was a Brazilian painter, engraver, gilder and restorer. His entire production was in the field of religious art, with the Catholic Church as his exclusive patron. He left numerous works of a scholarly character, moving away from the popular tradition that was common during the colonial period. Although his work has many moments of high level, it is uneven, partly because, since he became recognized, he always had many disciples and apprentices to assist him, to whom he delivered large portions of the work, and partly because of the use, as inspiration, of a varied iconography in engraving of irregular quality. Both practices were, however, common at the time.
He painted many easel pieces, but his most famous compositions are the great ceilings of churches made in the illusionistic perspective technique, organizing complex virtual architectural structures ornamented with garlands and scrolls, which support a central medallion, where the main scene of the set appears, usually showing Jesus or the Virgin Mary in glorifying situations. Like other works of the Baroque period, the painting should edify the observer and instruct him in the precepts of the Catholic Church, making use of a sumptuous plasticity that, through the seduction of the senses, leads the devotee to the contemplation of the beauties of the spirit.
Despite having already received critical attention from several well-known specialists, the study of his production still needs to be explored, especially in relation to authorship, since he did not sign any work and most of what he left behind is assigned to him based only on oral tradition, without corroborating documentation, which makes it difficult to understand his trajectory and style. Based on what is known with more certainty, José Joaquim da Rocha has already been recognized as an artist of great importance, considered the founder of the Bahian school of painting, the greatest of its members and one of the great masters of the Brazilian Baroque. He left several disciples and influenced two generations of artists, who preserved principles of his aesthetics until the mid-19th century.