“Clandestine Acts” of Resistance

The Ornamentation of the Altars and Chapels of the Rosary of Black Men

Abstract

With the purpose of understanding the representations that adorn the altars and temples erected by the Brotherhoods of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black Men, this article examines the procedures adopted by African and Afro-descendant communities in the experience of slavery to raise resources for hiring artisans responsible for decorative programs, thematic selections, and the appropriations of European iconographic canons of Our Lady of the Rosary. To this end, the study reviews the Books of Statutes of religious brotherhoods, the lawsuit involving Manuel da Costa Ataíde and the Brotherhood of the Rosary of Black Men of Mariana, documentary fragments from the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, the iconographic repertoire circulated through engravings, and artworks that adorn Brazilian and Portuguese temples. We conclude that the arrangement of altars and paintings constituted a “clandestine act of insurgency” — peaceful yet assertive — against constraints imposed by the colonial environment.