Antônio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho, was a sculptor, carver and architect of Colonial Brazil, noted for his works on and in various churches of Brazil. With a style related to Baroque and Rococo, Aleijadinho is considered almost by consensus as the greatest exponent of colonial art in Brazil by Brazilian critics and, surpassing Brazilian borders, for some foreign scholars he is the greatest name of Baroque in the Americas.
View of Ouro Preto, with the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, partly designed by Aleijadinho, in the background
Receipt signed by Aleijadinho when he received payment for the work on the Twelve Prophets
Aleijadinho in Vila Rica, 1898–1904, romantic reconstruction of an imaginary scene in the artist's life, by Henrique Bernardelli. Reproduction in Kósmos magazine of a lost screen
Imaginary portrait of Aleijadinho, by Henrique Bernardelli
The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi is a Rococo Catholic church in Ouro Preto, Brazil. Its erection began in 1766 after a design by the Brazilian architect and sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa, otherwise known as Aleijadinho. Lisboa designed both the structure of the church and the carved decorations on the interior, which were only finished towards the end of the 19th century. The circular bell towers and the oculus closed by a relief were original features in religious architecture of that time in Brazil. The façade has a single entrance door under a soapstone frontispiece under a relief depicting Saint Francis receiving the stigmata. The interior is richly decorated with golden woodwork, statues and paintings, and the wooden ceiling displays a painting by Manuel da Costa Ataíde.
Soapstone frontispiece above main entrance to the church
“Glorification of Our Lady Among Musician Angels” by Mestre Ataíde
Sculptures on the side of the main chapel