The religious and domestic architecture of colonial Brazil are characterized by the extensive use of stone for structural and ornamental functions.  The brothers Francisco de Sales Maia Pinto e Antônio de Pádua Maia Pinto are two of those artists responsible for the revival of this art form in the region of the Vertentes.

During the first decades of the eighteenth century, the churches of Minas Gerais were built out of adobe or “taipa.”  However, during the second half of the century, those structures were constructed with the use of local stones.  The whitewashed facades of the churches gained a feeling of permanence, rhythm, and movement when contrasted with stone carved pilasters and columns.  The geological formation of Minas Gerais offers a wide variety of stones and, the well-known greenish soap stone, is utilized as an element of decoration around portals and fenestrations. The Baroque and Rococo motifs and the carving technique reflect the lightness and elegance of their wood sculpted altar screens.

Biographies: Francisco de Sales and Antônio de Pádua Maia Pinto have their studio located in the city of Coronel Xavier Chaves, a few kilometers from São João del-Rei.  After almost a decade working in other shops as assistants, they decided to create their own business.  Their work consist of structural and ornamental architectural elements such as portals, capitals, columns, pilasters, baptismal fountains, sculptures; all using stones mined in the vicinities of Coronel Xavier Chaves.  They have also been responsible for restoration works done in a number of eighteenth-century churches around Minas Gerais.