Damaged canvases, tagged statues, smashed Louis XIV clock: the horde of Bolsonarists who invaded the places of power in Brasilia on Sunday January 8 ransacked everything in their path, including priceless works of art.
The three buildings vandalized by the assailants, the Presidential Palace of Planalto, the Supreme Court and the seat of Congress, constitute treasures of modern architecture by Oscar Niemeyer. The futuristic constructions with the emblematic curves of this brilliant architect are for many in the classification by Unesco of the urban fabric of the Brazilian capital in the World heritage of humanity, in 1987. Each of the three buildings, of which an impressive quantity of windows have broken, was also full of rare furniture, works by great Brazilian modernist artists, or others donated to Brazil by foreign countries.
In a press release, the National Artistic Historical Heritage Institute of Brazil (Iphan) “deeply deplored the damage caused” and assured that an expertise would be carried out soon to “evaluate the needs for restoration”.
A clock made by the watchmaker of Louis XIV found on the ground
Several iconic pieces were damaged. Among them, the granite statue “La Justice”, sculpted in 1961 by the Brazilian Alfredo Ceschiatti, which sits in front of the Supreme Court, on the Place des TroisPowers, opposite the presidential palace. This monumental work of more than three meters high represents a seated woman, blindfolded, a sword in her hand.
On Sunday, she was tagged, with the inscription “Perdeu, mané” (you lost, poor idiot), on the chest. This expression was used by a judge of the Supreme Court, Luis Roberto Barroso, to address a Bolsonarist who challenged him on the reliability of electronic ballot boxes in November, shortly after the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the second round of the presidential election.
A clock made by Balthazar Martinot, watchmaker to the King of France Louis XIV, of Boulle marquetry, was found on the ground, on the third floor of the Presidential Palace, the very damaged brown and gold chest, a gaping hole in place of the dial. According to the Presidency, it was a gift from the Court of the Sun King to the Portuguese crown, brought by King Joao VI to Brazil in 1808, when he had fled Lisbon at the approach of Napoleonic troops.
Only two clocks of this type have been made by this watchmaker: the other, which is half the size of the one damaged in Brazil, is on display at the Palace of Versailles. The restoration of the example of Brasilia is considered “very difficult” by Rogerio Carvalho, responsible for the heritage of the Presidential Palaces, quoted in a press release.
Table mulattoes, by the painter Di Cavalcanti, one of the masters of Brazilian modernism, exhibited in the Noble Salon on the third floor of the Presidential Palace, was seriously damaged. The canvas dating from 1962, which represents four women in an exuberant plant decor, was “stabbed seven times” by rioters, according to the presidency. “Its value is estimated at 8 million reais (about 1.4 million euros), but this kind of work is usually sold for five times more at auction.”
The “work table of Juscelino Kubitschek”, the visionary former Brazilian president behind the construction of Brasilia, the capital built ex nihilo in the middle of the savannah and inaugurated in 1960, was also damaged. This dark brown table, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and his only daughter Anna Maria, was knocked down and used as a barricade by rioters to block law enforcement access, according to the presidency.