The “Sacrifice and Coronation of D. Pedro I”, by Jean-Baptiste Debret

Sobre a trajetória de uma pintura histórica

Abstract

The “Sacrifice and Coronation of D. Pedro I”, painted by Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768- 1848) is certainly one of the most celebrated paintings of the First Reign (1822-1831). Despite its significant transmission, from the reproduction in school manuals, in publications on Brazilian Art, however, the history of the social trajectory of this painting made in large dimensions by Debret, in 1828, remains unknown. In this sense, chasing the nebula history of transits of this painting, which crossed the Atlantic twice, before being installed permanently at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, in the 1970s - after a long season deposited inside the Castelo d'Eu, residence of the imperial family in times of exile - it allows us to unveil, through consultation in the Brazilian and French archives, the intricacies that made it possible for us to survive.