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Independence or Death
Pedro Américo · Realism & Academic
- Artist
- Pedro Américo (1843–1905)
- Date
- 1888
- Dimensions
- 415 x 760 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Museu Paulista (Museu do Ipiranga), São Paulo, Brazil
This huge painting shows Prince Pedro on horseback on the banks of the Ipiranga stream near São Paulo, raising his sword as he proclaims the independence of Brazil from Portugal on 7 September 1822. His mounted guard of honour echo his gesture, raising their swords and hats.
A closer look
The prince stands on a small rise at the centre, surrounded by a semicircle of cavalry in bright uniforms, while on the left a peasant driving an ox-cart stops to watch the historic moment. Américo painted the scene more than sixty years after the event, in Florence, as a commission for the monument-museum being built on the site. He openly idealised it: the real party was small and travelling on mules. The painting became Brazil's best-known historical image, reproduced on stamps, banknotes and in schoolbooks.
More by Pedro Américo
Famous works elsewhere
- The Battle of Avaí 1874
- Tiradentes Quartered 1893
- Passagem do Chaco 1871
- The Liberation of Slaves 1889
- Battle of Campo Grande 1871
- Hamlet’s Vision 1893