The Monument to Independence: architectural registrations

Abstract

Thanks to the care of the architect Tommaso Gaudencio Bezzi (1844-1915) in filing documents and countless newspaper articles related to the matters that involved himself directly and the Monument to Brazil's Independence, it was possible for us to rescue relevant facts to the understanding of the monument-building conceived by him. Many descriptions of that time enable us to have visions as much of the power of representation of the work and its repercussions on the city São Paulo's society as in the work and activities of the architect. In this sense the text reproduces articles published in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro's main newspapers in the end of the second half of the 19th century. The articles describe the work in that historical moment and valorize the architect's activity, reminding us of the importance and complexity of architecture as an artistic production. "[] The foundations and the ground floor have are already built. The brick of homogen contexture and great hardness is handmade, making on it, as if it was to be uncovered, all the moldings with a perfection whose secret only the Italian workers have. Hundreds of workers are in the labor, a number that should increase later when the distribution of work allows for that. An inclined plan, of great extension and powered by steam, takes the material to the top of the hill. It is expected that the sculptor Bernadelli is the responsible for moulding the statue of D. Pedro I and the others that shall decorate the building, which should, in a short time, be appreciated by the model in relief, which is carefully making Mr. Bezzi."