Rio de Janeiro - São Francisco da Penitência

São Francisco da Penitência

Beside Santo Antônio is the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência, which was begun in 1657. Among those who contributed to the decoration of the interior, which was completed only in 1773, were Manuel and Francisco Xavier de Brito, two leading Portuguese sculptors and woodcarvers. Both of them had very similar styles - the "Brito style" - with decorative forms which influenced Aleijadinho and other masters of Brazilian Baroque. The ceiling of the choir has the earliest trompe-l'oeil painting in Brazil (1732-36), the work of Caetano da Costa Coelho, who later painted the ceiling of the nave in the same style.