O MuseumNational is a scientific institution that emerged in Brazil in 1818, and has departments related to different areas of knowledge, such as anthropology, geology, botany, mineralogy, etc. emerged during the Joanine Period, the museum has always been a reference in the production of knowledge and a place of access to culture. In June 2018, the National Museum completed 200 years of existence.
Museum History
The National Museum is located in Quinta da Boa Vista Park, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was created by determination of D. John VI, during the Joanine Period, a phase of Brazilian colonization that began in 1808, when the Portuguese royal family moved to Brazil, and lasted until 1822, when it was declared the independence of Brazil.
See too:Five fun facts about the independence of Brazil
The creation of the National Museum was part of a series of initiatives taken by D. João VI to promote the development of art, science and intellectuality in Brazil. The National Museum was officially born during this process and was founded on June 6, 1818 as Royal Museum.
As recorded by historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloisa Starling, the Royal Museum's main objective was to encourage new studies in the areas of botany and zoology. They also state that “the museum did not have, […], a collection, and that is why it was opened with a small collection donated by d. João; this was composed of pieces of art, engravings, mineralogy objects, indigenous artifacts, stuffed animals and natural products […]"|1|.
Facade of the São Cristóvão Palace, former home of the Portuguese royal family, the Brazilian imperial family and, since 1892, the National Museum.
Initially, the National Museum was installed in Campo de Santana – located in Praça da República, in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro. From 1892 onwards, this museum was installed in the Palace of São Cristóvão, which was built in the beginning of the 19th century and housed D. João VI, D. Peter I and D. Pedro II. The palace, initially, had belonged to Elias Antônio Lopes, a Portuguese merchant who got rich from the slave trade.
This merchant donated the palace to D. João VI, in 1808, when he moved from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, claiming to be concerned with the well-being of the Portuguese king. Rio de Janeiro at that time had a severe problem of homelessness. Naturally, the donation made by Elias Antônio Lopes earned him many favors from D. John VI.
THE transfer from the museum to the Palace of São Cristóvão, in 1892, happened mainly as a way of erasing the memories of the Brazilian monarchy by the republicans who took control of the country in 1889. This is because the palace, as mentioned, was the home of the Portuguese and Brazilian royal family. Thus, the transfer of the National Museum there would give the building a new meaning.
Also access:Proclamation of the Republic
In 1946, at the end of the new state, the National Museum was transferred to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – which remains until today. In June 2018, it completed 200 years of history and festivities were held at the place because of that. Until then, the National Museum housed more than 20 million pieces in its collection.
Throughout national history, the São Cristóvão Palace has witnessed important moments, such as the signing of the decree of Brazilian independence by Maria Leopoldina (Empress Consort of the Empire of Brazil and first wife of D. Pedro I), days before D. Pedro I give the cry for independence. Between 1889 and 1891, the palace hosted the National Constituent Assembly that drafted the first Constitution of Brazil as a republican nation. This constitution was promulgated on February 24, 1891.
The fire and destruction of the Museum
On September 2, 2018, a few weeks after the bicentennial was completed and just five days before Independence Day, the museum was hit by a large fire which destroyed virtually the entire collection of more than 20 million items that were accumulated in 200 years of existence.
To date, the authorities do not know if the fire was accidental or criminal, but it was still evident with the disaster that the maintenance of the museum was not being carried out properly – something that, in fact, was the result of years of abandonment. In 2013, for example, the Museum received a total of 531 thousand reais from the government. In 2018, until April, the amount sent had been only 54 thousand reais|2|.
This amount (531 thousand), however, was the minimum necessary to maintain the museum's infrastructure functioning and basic maintenance. Due to the few resources transferred to the museum, less than 1% of all the available collection was put on display for the public. It is important to point out that the National Museum collection was composed of more than 20 million pieces.
The precise extent of the losses is not yet known, but from the level of the tragedy it is known that they were gigantic and irreparable for science and culture in Brazil. The only certainty at the moment is that the Bendegó, the biggest meteorite found in Brazil (it was found in Bahia, in the 18th century), withstood the fire. Let's see below some of the items that the National Museum housed.
National Museum Collection
The National Museum had an invaluable collection of different areas of knowledge. They were part of this collection, for example:
THE largest collection of Egyptology from Latin America, which included sarcophagi and mummified bodies;
Pompeii frescoes, the Roman city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79. Ç.;
One collection of over 140,000 coins, one of the largest collections on the continent;
The oldest human skeleton in Brazil, aged approximately 12,000 years. It was nicknamed “Lucia”;
Several fossils of dinosaurs and animals that formed the Brazilian megafauna;
several species of taxidermized animals (stuffed animals);
Items from different peoples in Africa, such as the throne of the king of Dahomey (now Benin), an article donated to D. John VI in 1811;
Items of culturejapanese, like breastplates worn by samurai;
Items related to Indian people of Brazil and the pre-columbian peoples from other places in Latin America;
Part of furniture used by the Brazilian royal family during the monarchic period;
extensive documentation years of Brazilian history.
The museum was also visited by distinguished personalities such as Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, famous scientists of the 20th century. Despite its importance, the National Museum has not received a visit from a (civil) Brazilian president since 1958, when Juscelino Kubitschek been on the spot.
|1| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloisa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015, p. 184.
|2| National Museum: exposed wiring, skunks and termites among the ignored warnings that announced tragedy. To access, click on here.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/historia-museu-nacional.htm