Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848)

Considered the best illustrator of 19th-century Brazil, Jean Baptiste Debret left us a monumental set of masterpieces that, until today, have not been surpassed in Brazilian iconography. Born in Paris in 1768, he studied at Belas Artes, but received a degree in Engineering (due to the French Revolution) and in 1814 was invited by Joachin Lebreton to join the French Mission that came to Brazil. Never dreaming to stay in Brazil for 15 years, Debret landed in Rio in 1816 and was named Official Painter of the Emperor.

Debret fell in love with the environment he lived in and with everything that happened around him. Nothing escaped the careful eye of the painter, who with his sketches made faithful renditions of everything: the noblemen, the slaves, animals and costumes, streets and houses. All of this work culminated in almost 200 engravings of Rio, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. His travels in Brazil produced what is maybe his best work, "Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil", comprising 151 plates divided into three editions, the first dedicated to Indians and the forest, the second to the slaves and craft makers, and the third to urban costumes and political events.

Ironic and sometimes tough, libertarian and conservative, Debret managed to record the enchantment of our country with the discipline of a historian and the finesse of an inspired artist. Just one of Jean Baptiste Debret's pictures is worth a treaty.

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