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Livros do Cordel: Books on a String
In the Gallery May 9 - Aug 1, 2008
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An exhibition celebrating the famous livros do cordel, the printed folk literature of northeastern Brazil
Pictured above, Jose Soares Com Jose Costa Leita, from the collection of Stefan Bartkowiak.
Works from the exhibition |
José Pedro Pontual, O Caminho do Inferno (The Road to Hell) From the collection of Alastair Johnston. The cover woodcut, signed PALITO (likely a child in the Casa), shows the devil dragging two victims to the gates of Hell.
A Catholic tale about a cruel demonic slave master who worked for the king. Worse than Nero, he whipped the slaves to death and buried alive the old and inÞrm. This capataz (like Italian capo) would take a beautiful woman from her husband and return her the next day. If the husband objected he’d be tied to a tree, doused in diesel and torched. The King knew all but protected the capo as the farmers feared him. In a dream, God told him to stop the torture. He goes to a Prieto velho (literally an old black guy – a spirit guide of Candomblé) and dislikes what he hears, so threatens to bury the priest alive. The priest lights a candle and prays for salvation to St Benedict. The saint descends and opens a hole in the ground (caverna) into which the slave-driver falls. King Gondim (a Yoruba name? There are no kings in Brazil) frees the slaves. Various saints and hellish monsters are described, and the last verse has an acrostic beginning with the letters PONTUAL.  | |||||
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