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Thanks to the team work of the Laboratory of Conservation and Restoration
and the financial support of the Museum's Friends Association, in 1999
the restoration of the monumental equestrian statue of D.Pedro II was
concluded. Work of sculptor Francisco Manoel Chaves Pineiro, it was molded
in gypsum in 1886 to commemorate the surrender in Uruguaiana in September
18, 1865, during the Paraguayan war, the sculpture was never casted in bronze.
2,80meters high and 3,00meters in length, the sculpture was exposed for
public visitation in 1922 until 1985, when, for safety measures, since the
statue was very frail and had to be dismounted. According to a report at
the time, the base of the statue, originally made in Riga timber, was
almost totally destroyed by termites, what caused the fragmentation of the
gypsum base.
As a consequence, the statue was sectioned in circa 17 large
parts and various smaller fragments that were kept in boxes.
A careful and delicate restoration work was undertaken by the technicians
of the Laboratory of Conservation and Restoration - LACOR . The base
received a mettalic base with wheels, to permit easy locomotion, without
risks of damage. The inside coating was substituted by a new structure in
wire attached with gypsum, glue and sisal.
Exhibited for the first time in 1867, during the International Exposition
in Paris, this statue is an unique piece, and is part of the Museum's own
history. In 1882, the statue was transferred by the Imperial Academy of
Fine Arts to the Asylum of the Nation's Invalids, to be exposed in the
"Trofee Room of the Paraguayan War", were the Military Museum was located.
It was Gustavo Barroso, founder of the National Historical Museum that
brought back, in 1922, the work of Chaves Pinheiro to place it the hall
dedicated to the Paraguayan war.
Born in Rio, Chaves Pinheiro (1822-1884) studied sculpture with Marc Ferrez
at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. In 1850, two months before his death,
he still teached sculpture in the Academy, having as pupil, among others,
Rodolfo Bernardelli. His works can be found in museums, churches and public
squares, as, for example, the sculpture of Joćo Caetano, in front of the
theater that carries the actors name, in Rio de Janeiro.
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