Introduction
The eighteenth-century artistic heritage in stone, textiles, wood and metals are still alive in the Brazilian city of São João del-Rei and in its surrounding regions.  A research field-trip to document the contemporary masters of sacred art in Minas Gerais was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the College of Arts and Sciences of New Mexico State University (NMSU) for one-and-half years (2002/2003).  This research was presented to the public through the exhibition Ora et Labora: A Arte Sacra no Século XXI in the Cultural Center of the Federal University of São João del-Rei in April of 2003 accompanied by the publication Herança barroca: a arte sacra no século XXI.

The goal of this project was to document the most authentic manifestations of sacred art executed in the techniques of metalwork, embroidery, sculpture, foundry, stone and wood carvings by the artists and masters João Bôsco de Almeida Chaves, Edmar Luiz Batista, Osni Paiva, José Edivaldo Ribeiro da Silva, Francisco de Sales Maia Pinto, Antônio de Pádua Maia Pinto and the brothers Cláudio Neves, José Luiz and Rogério Antônio da Silva.  Besides the significant architectural legacy, the city of São João del-Rei and the Vertentes region still preserve the aesthetics and traditional techniques brought by the Portuguese to this mining region. 

The photographs on this site are provided for educational purposes only, and may not be copied, reproduced, redistributed, manipulated, projected, used or altered in any way without prior express written permission.