Rodolfo Bernardelli

José Maria Oscar Rodolfo Bernardelli y Thierry (18 December 1852 – 7 April 1931) was a Mexican-born Brazilian sculptor and art professor, of Italian ancestry. He is the Patron of the 21st chair of the Brazilian Academy of Fine Arts.

Biography He was the oldest of four children born to a violinist and a dancer. His brothers, Félix and Henrique, also became artists, and Félix was a musician as well. Due to his parents' profession, the family moved frequently; to several places in Mexico, Chile, and eventually Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. There, they met Emperor Pedro II, who invited them to live in Rio de Janeiro and become tutors to his children. By that time, Rodolfo was fourteen, and displaying artistic talent.

He sat in on classes taught by Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro, who noticed his enthusiasm and suggested that he become a formal student. He was therefore enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, winning several academic awards. In 1876, he received a stipend for study abroad. He initially intended to study in Paris, as was customary, but found himself unimpressed by the artistic milieu there, and the academies were crowded.

After completing his studies, he returned to Brazil in 1885. In October of that year, he held an exhibition of the works he had created in Italy and, as a result, was appointed Professor of Statuary at the Academia, succeeding his former teacher, Chaves Pinheiro, who had retired. With support from the Imperial family, he received several important commissions, including monuments for Generals Manuel Luís Osório and Duque de Caxias. In that position, he collaborated on a project that converted the Academia Imperial into the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, and liberalized its teaching methods.

He was the most influential sculptor of his generation. His workshop in central Rio de Janeiro was a meeting place for numerous cultural and political figures, including Quintino Bocaiuva, Olavo Bilac, Machado de Assis, Raul Pompéia, Leopoldo Miguez, Angelo Agostini and Pereira Passos. Nevertheless, his public image was less flattering, with a significant number of critics who considered him to be vain, arrogant and mediocre. Much of that criticism derived from his dismissal of several prominent artists when he became Director of the Escola Nacional. They included Victor Meirelles, Antônio Parreiras and Décio Villares.

Selected works