Report reveals damage to artistic treasures in Brazil riot

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Report Reveals Damage To Artistic Treasures In Brazil Riot
An agent walks past the head of a statue depicting the Greek goddess Themis, outside the Brazilian Supreme Court building that was damaged by supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, © AP/Press Association Images
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By Mario Lobao and David Biller, Associated Press

The trail of destruction left behind by the horde of rioters who invaded government buildings in Brasilia on January 8 in an attack on Brazil’s democracy has been revealed.

Following a painstaking survey of the ruins, the national artistic heritage institute released a 50-page report, the bulk of which is a photographic catalogue of the damages.

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They go far beyond the shattered glass on the exteriors of the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court, all architectural icons.


Protesters, supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil
Supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro storm the National Congress building in Brasilia (Eraldo Peres/AP)

Modernist furniture was burned, portraits defaced, sculptures decapitated and ceramics smashed.

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Carpets were found soaked with water from the buildings’ sprinkler systems, as well as with urine.

The rioters – die-hard supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his election defeat – marred the iconic marble ramp leading up to the presidential palace with scratches, some stretching two feet in length, according to the report.

Into a historic wooden table at the Supreme Court they carved “Supreme are the people” – a phrase popular among backers of Mr Bolsonaro, who often strained against the checks of the top court.

Among the artworks destroyed was a 17th-century clock made by Balthazar Martinot and that the French royal court gifted to the Portuguese king.

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A damaged 17th-century clock, gifted to Portuguese royalty by Louis XIV, stands on display in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace after the storming of public buildings by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil
A damaged 17th-century clock, gifted to Portuguese royalty by Louis XIV, in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace in Brasilia (Eraldo Peres/AP)

The only other Martinot clock in existence is in France’s Palace of Versailles, though it is half the size, Brazil’s presidency said in a statement.

A 60-year-old bronze sculpture of a flautist by Bruno Giorgi was also damaged, and its pieces found spread across a room on the presidential palace’s third floor.

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Vandals pitched rocks through the canvas of a mural by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti.

The presidential palace said in its statement that the painting, As Mulatas, is valued at some 1.5 million dollars (£1.2 million), though works of that size tend to fetch quintuple that amount at auction.


The damaged artwork titled As Mulatas by Brazilian artist Di Cavalcanti in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace, after the storming of public buildings by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil
The damaged artwork titled As Mulatas by Brazilian artist Di Cavalcanti in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace (Eraldo Peres/AP)

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“The damage was not random, it was obviously deliberate,” Rogerio Carvalho, the presidential palace’s curator, said in an interview while sitting before the disfigured painting.

The work “was perforated in seven places using rocks taken from the square with a pickaxe. Which is to say, there is a movement of intolerance toward what this palace represents”.

The total cost of the destruction has not yet been established.

Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco placed the damage in his congressional chamber alone in the millions.

The day after the uprising, justice minister Flavio Dino said Federal Police surveys will enable the attorney-general’s office to hold perpetrators financially responsible.


A damaged wooden sculpture by artist Frans Krajcberg is displayed in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace after the storming of public buildings by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil
A damaged wooden sculpture by artist Frans Krajcberg in the entrance hall of the presidential office at Planalto Palace (Eraldo Peres/AP)

This collection “is an artistic treasure of the Brazilian people, which belongs to the nation and whose integrity needs to be respected”, Brazil’s culture minister Margareth Menezes told reporters on Tuesday.

“The idea is to create a memorial about this violence we suffered, so that it never happens again.”

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