A Virgem entrega o Menino Jesus a Santo Antônio de Pádua (detail) 1810

Mestre Ataíde painted this panel of ‘The Virgin Delivering the Baby Jesus to Saint Anthony of Padua’ in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century using tempera on wood. The use of wood as a support is significant. It tells us that this isn't just a picture; it's part of a larger structure, likely architectural. The warm, absorbent quality of the wood would have profoundly shaped Ataíde's approach to painting. Tempera, made with pigment bound in egg yolk, has a luminosity that gives the scene an ethereal glow. You can almost feel the artist carefully building up the layers of color, each stroke adding depth and vibrancy to the figures. Ataíde was part of a wave of artists in colonial Brazil who blended European artistic conventions with local materials and sensibilities. These artists weren't just replicating European models. They were actively shaping a new visual language, deeply rooted in the specific qualities of their materials and the social realities of their time. This act of creation, this hands-on engagement with material, is central to understanding the panel’s beauty and significance.