Baroque, the soul of Brazil - encadernado, livro de bolso

About this book: This 208 page glossy hardback book was originally published in Brazil in 1997 in Portuguese under the title 'Barroco, A Almo do Brasil' with the first English edition (printed in Brazil) coming out in 1998. The commercial sponsors of the book, Bradesco Seguros, wanted a book published that would look at the cultural foundations of Brazil with Baroque therefore a natural choice. Rather than the volume being a simple photographic and textual work, the aim was to go much more deeply into the towns and villages of Brazil for the signs of the Baroque style influencing the nation's culture. The task of recording this evidence was entrusted to the talented and skillful pen of the Brazilian Poet Affonso Romano de Sant'Anna. It explores manifestations of the Baroque in all its diversity: in architecture, in music, in literature, in theatre, and in painting. It looks at the development of Baroque in Brazil from the perspectives of history and at its sociological implications. Visually, the book offers a sample of art works in exceptionally fine photographs, published here for the first time. Wherever Baroque has left traces down through Brazilian history, it has shown that it is not simply an art form, but the preponderant influence on the thought and behaviour of the Brazilian people. The accompanying text puts the phenomenon in its historical, cultural and sociological context and shows the spiritual evolution of the Brazilian people - how it has moulded them since the Jesuits' ratio studiorum (Plan of Studies), the illuminated words of Father Vieira, the mulatto polyphonies of Lobo de Mesquita, and the dramatic tropicalisms of Ataides paintings - all this demonstrates the spiritual evolution on these pages in the pure poetry of Affonso Romano de Sant' Anna and with the wonderful documentary photographic record from the lens of Pedro Oswaldo Cruz. The English version was translated from the Portuguese by Diane Grosklaus