Monção departing 1897

Jose Ferraz de Almeida Junior painted this scene of a river expedition in Brazil, sometime in the late nineteenth century. ‘Monção’ refers to the river expeditions that departed from Porto Feliz in São Paulo, heading into the country's interior. In this work, Almeida Junior evokes the São Paulo identity through the figures of the 'bandeirantes’. These adventurers are seen by some as national heroes who expanded the country, but for others are seen as villains who enslaved indigenous people. The painting shows a chaotic scene of people embarking on a river voyage, which gives us a sense of the diversity of Brazilian society at the time, in the late 1800s. The artist does not shy away from the presence of people of colour. Note the prominent figure carrying a chest, suggesting the reliance of these expeditions on enslaved people. To understand this painting better, we would need to examine travel journals from the period, or the reports of naturalists, and consult historical studies about the impact of ‘bandeirantes’ on the indigenous population. Art, after all, is the product of social relations.