Mestiço (1934) by CandIdo PortinariPinacoteca de São Paulo
This painting composition follows a typical pattern of Italian Renaissance portraits: nobleman figures in the foreground stand out against bright landscapes set in perspective.
However, this time the subject isn’t an aristocrat, but a farm laborer! His muscles and big hands with slightly dirty nails hint at his job: a Brazilian plantation worker where the painter Candido Portinari spent his childhood.
The half-bust frame as well as the great sculptural effect of the naked body, dignify the figure, making him look almost like a monument!
So who’s this Mestiço? This isn’t a particular person’s portrait; it’s rather the face of the Brazilian people, the symbol of a Brazil where several ethnicities coexist harmoniously and each person, even the humblest worker, is an integral part. Or better still, its emblem.
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