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Corner of the Hispanic Reading Room with two of Portinari's murals
Two of the Portinari murals in the Hispanic Reading Room with display items. Photo by Alyson Williams.

Portinari’s Murals and Fostering Belonging in the Hispanic Reading Room

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The following is a post by Henry Granville Widener, Portuguese Language Reference Librarian, Hispanic Reading Room, Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division

Every day, Library of Congress users and materials from across the world encounter each other either onsite or virtually in the Library’s growing digital collections. Hispanic Heritage Month offers the Library an opportunity to highlight the diversity of both the Library’s materials and its users. On September 14, the Library hosted a Family Day Event inviting visitors to make their own books inspired by Latin American cartoneras. On September 19, Poets Juan Felipe Herrera, Ruth Behar, and Maria Kelson held a reading and conversation at the Latino Poets Spotlight. The PALABRA Archive continued its tradition by adding fifty new recordings available for digital access.

To round out Hispanic Heritage Month, on October 10, 2024, the Hispanic Reading Room had the pleasure of hosting João Candido Portinari, founder of the Projeto Portinari and son of Brazilian painter Candido Portinari whose four murals have greeted visitors to the Hispanic Reading Room since 1941. On display at the event were the sketches, studies, and preliminary drawings Portinari prepared for Discovery of the Land, Entry into the Forest, Teaching of the Indians, and Mining for Gold, allowing us to trace the year-long process Portinari undertook before committing his work to the walls of the reading room.

Ink drawing depicts the outlines of a large group of people gathered together with the outline of a house in the distant background
Candido Portinari. Preliminary drawing for “Teaching of the Indians” mural. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Black and white gouache drawing depicting two priests with three Indigenous adults and three Indigenous children with the outline of a house in the far background
Candido Portinari. Study for “The teaching of the Indians” mural. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Colored gouache drawing depicting two priests with two Indigenous women and three Indigenous children with three row boats in the far background
Candido Portinari. Preparatory drawing for “The teaching of the Indians” mural. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Alongside these works were three books illustrated by Candido Portinari accessible through the Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. First, a 1943 edition of Machado de Assis’ classic Memorias posthumas de Braz Cubas (Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas) published by the Sociedade dos Cem Bibliófilos do Brasil. As Brás Cubas narrates the story of his own life from beyond the grave, this fine press edition emphasizes the Afro-Brazilian writer’s dark wit and humor with Portinari’s illustrations of the novel’s scenes and characters, beginning with the title page, which evokes the narrator’s opening remarks: “To the worm that first gnawed the cold flesh of my corpse I dedicate these posthumous memoirs as a nostalgic memory.”

The second of Portinari’s book illustrations was Mensagem etérea (Ethereal message) by Nobel Prize nominee Manoel de Abreu. Known primarily for his work on the use of radiography for detecting tuberculosis, Abreu added to his scientific production with several books of poetry which included illustrations by himself and notable Modernist Brazilian painter Di Cavalcanti. As the verso of the title page states, Mensagem etérea’s commercial run was limited to 400 issues, 150 of which included an etching in addition to the four illustrations accompanying Abreu’s poems. Portinari’s work alongside poems such as A vida não me pertence (Life does not belong to me) illustrate the complexity Abreu must have felt in a life dedicated to medicine and science.

The last of Portinari’s book illustrations was Menino de engenho (Plantation Boy) by José Lins do Rego. The first of the author’s series of novels on the sugar cane cycle merges nostalgia and realism to portray the decadent plantation society of Brazil’s Northeast. After the traumatic loss of his mother, the narrator moves to a family sugar plantation where he is astonished with the work, culture, leisure, and ecosystems around him. Enlisted for a second time by fine press publisher Sociedade dos Cem Bibliófilos do Brasil, Candido Portinari’s work on Menino de engenho marked a return to familiar themes of rural life.

The Hispanic Reading Room ended the day with an open house that featured a display documenting the various cultural practices and ways of belonging present in the Library of Congress’ Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean collections. The display focused particularly on foodways, and how the way we make, eat, and share food can help create a deep sense of attachment.

The display began by presenting the many expressions of cultural exchange present in Portinari’s artwork. Portinari popular exhibits how Portinari showed an understanding of Brazil’s diversity, with depictions of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and European peoples engaged in work, play, tragedy, festivity, relaxation, and much more. Maria Rosa; everyday fun and carnival frolic with children in Brazil, created in the midst of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy, introduced children in the United States to many of the most unique aspects of life in Brazil and Latin America. Portinari’s illustrations bring life to exotic animals like the anteater, far off places like Rio de Janeiro’s Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf Mountain), and peculiar traditions like Brazil’s carnival.

Next, the book Portinari devora Hans Staden (Portinari devours Hans Staden) reworks Hans Staden’s 16th-century images of the native inhabitants of the Guanabara Bay, depictions which greatly contributed to Europe’s long-held fear and fascination with the supposed barbarity of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

An engraving depicting four long houses arranged in a square with Indigenous people gathered at the center
Hans Staden. True History and Description of a Country in America, whose Inhabitants are Savage, Naked, Very Godless and Cruel Man-Eaters. 1595. Library of Congress, World Digital Library collection.

In his introduction to Arte sacra (Sacred art), Father Bruno Palma states that while Portinari was “not religious by confession,” his religiously-themed artwork such as “Jeremiah,” “The Sacrifice of Abraham,” and “Job” find thematic and formal parallels in the painter’s more socially-conscious works such as “The Drought Migrants” and “Burial in a Hammock”. Finally, Guerra e Paz, Portinari explores Portinari’s War and Peace murals housed at the United Nations building in New York City. As João Candido Portinari explained in his presentation, these gigantic paintings were so important to the painter that he gladly sacrificed his health in order to complete them.

The display ended with six materials that highlight how food and language have travelled throughout the world and created new spaces of community and belonging in the Americas, beginning with Sebastián de Covarrubias’ Tesoro de la lengva castellana, o española. Published in 1611, Covarrubias’ etymological dictionary represents the first attempt to systematically trace the origins of Spanish words. As such, the Tesoro de la lengva castellana, o española is also a testament to how food has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, containing entries on such dishes as “alajú” (alfajor), “churizo” (chorizo), gazpacho, and “hordiate” (horchata). What other familiar foods can you find in this dictionary?

Next up was The Oxford companion to American food and drink (2007), which begins by “broadly and eclectically” defining “American food and drink as the foods and beverages consumed in the United States.” With entries for such items as cashews, cassava, enchiladas, margarita, and sangría, this book attests to centuries of culinary exchange between the Americas.

Colored lithograph showing a kitchen filled with a large family each doing their part to make tamales
Carmen Lomas Garza. Tamalada. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

The display then featured a reproduction of Camen Lomas Garza’s Tamalada (Making Tamales). Tamales have been a staple of Mesoamerican cuisine for thousands of years, long before the arrival of Europeans. As a labor-intensive dish requiring multiple steps and people, Carmen Lomas Garza’s lithograph illustrates how this demanding process can gather families together.

Published in Goa, India in 1563, Garcia d’Orta’s Colloquies on the simples & drugs of India introduced Europe to many of India’s native plants and their nutritional and medicinal uses, such as cinnamon, coconut, pepper, and ginger. In colloquy 34 on India’s native mango, Garcia de Orta instructs Ruano on different methods of preparation: “In conserve of sugar, in conserve of vinegar, in oil and salt, stuffed inside with green ginger and garlic, salted, boiled—in all these ways I have seen them served, and you may try them in this house.”

História global da alimentação portuguesa (Global history of Portuguese cuisine) explores 900 years of food and cooking in Portugal, from the tables of the country’s nobility to the fields of its rural peasants. The book gives particular detail to Portugal’s important role in the global movement of foods during the Age of Exploration. It includes chapters on Portugal’s impact on Asian cuisine, street food in the 16th century, and the evolution of dinnerware.

Finally, George Monteiro’s Caldo verde is not stone soup: persons, names, words, and proverbs in Portuguese America explores the proverbs and traditions Portuguese Americans have developed and maintained for centuries. Monteiro’s work adds to the Library’s rich collections on Portuguese Americans, a community present in the United States since colonial times which maintains strong traditions from New England to California and beyond.

Finally, the Hispanic Reading Room open house on October 10th included activities such as a reading room treasure hunt — curated in conjunction with the Projeto Portinari — as well as an exploration of the many recipe books featured in Alimentación, gastronomía, cultura y hábitos alimenticios: una bibliografía anotada.

No matter the distance or length of time we may travel, we bring along with us our cultural practices. Art, language and food can be especially powerful reminders of the places we have visited or of the family, friends, and traditions we grew up with. As we can see in the murals in the Hispanic Reading Room, Portinari’s portrayals of families often included chests, which immigrant families have carried with them to keep their most treasured possessions close by as they travel. We invite you to deposit your most treasured recipe in the Hispanic Reading Room the next time you visit.

By sharing our ways of creating, speaking, and eating with each other, we create new spaces for learning and belonging. As a diverse array of materials make their home at the Library, we hope you find a sense of belonging in the Library’s collections.

LEARN MORE

Alimentación, gastronomía, cultura y hábitos alimenticios: una bibliografía anotada: This guide includes resources along with annotations and comments by the author on the themes of food, culinary arts, gastronomy and culture.

Portuguese Origins in the United States: A Guide to Local History and Genealogy Sources: This guide provides print and online resources for researching the genealogy of Portuguese families in the U.S., along with key national, state and local histories.

If These Walls Could Talk: This story recreates the experience of walking into the Hispanic Reading Room where the four murals by Portinari set the stage for learning about a shared experience of social, economic, and cultural exchanges between the United States and Latin America.

“If These Walls Could Talk:” A Virtual Tour of the Hispanic Reading Room: A blog post introducing the Mural Story Map and history of the Hispanic Reading Room.

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