Cultural Girl

Since I'm here on a cultural visa (they wouldn't give me a work visa, which doesn't bother me in the least, because I don't plan to get a paying job here), my friend and I have been taking advantage of all the cultural things here in Rio. One of them is the Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (Cultural Center of the Bank of Brasil). They are currently having an exhibition of several artists from Minas Gerais, but specifically, Antônio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho. One of his best-known series is "Os Doze Profetas" (The 12 Prophets) which are on the exterior of Santuário Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, Congonhas do Campo, Minas Gerais. There were 16 prophets (not counting Baruch in the Catholic Canon) and only 12 places on the church to put them. Our guide told us that Aleijadinho chose the 12 he thought were the nicest. That struck me as funny, because none of the prophets brought great news. But I learned a lot more than that, like the fact that 50% of the gold ever mined in the world came from the state of Minas Gerais here in Brasil. And Brasil lost its gold (which was, in that time, Portugal's gold, since Brazil was a lowly colony in the 18th century) to England. If there ever was a paradise that was stripped, it is this one.