Between villages and walls: legacy of the Oratorian Missionaries in Pernambuco (Brazil)

Abstract

Despite the numerous historical studies on the Oratorians in Brazil, little is actually known about the culture and art associated with this religious congregation – especially associated with its missionary activities. The usual administrative changes in the missions, between religious institutions, also make it difficult to point accurately to the Oratorian contributions in many cases. But the most important issue is undoubtedly the lack of research on Oratorian missionary art, which makes this a somewhat unknown area. The importance of this chapter, in which the art of the Brazilian Oratorians has been, for the first time, focused on as a whole, is therefore that it has now become clear that a probably vast and valuable heritage related to the Oratorian missions in the Brazilian hinterlands remains to be uncovered and studied in detail. The Oratorian missionary remains are undoubtedly part of a history of Brazil that is gradually vanishing, but if one carefully analyses these remains, evidence will surely be found of the Oratorian singularity in Brazil. Hopefully, the years to come will produce further scholarship on this issue and shed more light on the Oratorians’ artistic culture.