Vila Rica

Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho (an affectionate nickname meaning the Little Cripple), was born in Ouro Preto (formerly Vila Rica) on August 29,1730 or, more likely, 1738, and died on November 18, 1814. He is considered the most celebrated sculptor, engraver and architect of colonial Brazil and by some foreign scholars, the greatest name of the Baroque era in the Americas. Little is known about his life, which remains to this day shrouded in an aura of legend and controversy, making research work hard, hence the main documentary source on Aleijadinho is a biographical note written about forty years after his death. All his work, including carvings, architectural projects, reliefs and statuary, was carried out in the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil) especially in the cities of Ouro Preto, Sabará, São João Del Rei and Congonhas; The main monuments that contain his works are the Church of São Francisco de Assis de Ouro Preto and the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos. Around the age of 40, he began to show symptoms of a serious degenerative disease, probably leprosy or scleroderma, which is when he received the nickname "Aleijadinho". Although disfigured and disabled, popular belief holds that he continued sculpting with a chisel and hammer tied to his fingerless hands... Eventually he became more reclusive, working mostly at night, with the help of his assistants, he would be carried through the streets in a covered palanquin. IMAGINARY BRAZIL is Corciolli´s upcoming album, available as of August 23, 2019 on all digital platforms.