A Batalha do Avaí

The monumental canvas of "The Battle of Avay", by Pedro Américo (b. Brazil 1843-1905), from the holdings of the Museu Nacional de Bellas Artes, is one of the historical paintings that still causes polemic for its narrative or ideological content. Commissioned by Emperor Pedro II and painted in Florence between 1874 and 1877, the large canvas (50 square meters) represents the final battle of the "War of the Triple Alliance" (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay) against Paraguay, in December of 1868. Academic Pedro Américo, whom the emperor sent to study in Europe with a scholarship tries to please his patron, extolling the great war that consumed the full resources of the Treasury between 1864 and 1870. The painting, analyzed by historian Lilia Moritz Schwarcz and two of her students depicts uniformed soldiers defending "civilization" against the Paraguayan "barbarians", portrayed almost naked, barefoot and with amulets around their necks.