Title: Capoeira Scene, Brazil, 1820 – 1824.

An illustrated scene of capoeira in Brazil (1820-24). Capoeira is a martial art created by the African people of Brazil: “couching their practice as dance, the enslaved trained in capoeira as a form of resistance and self-defense. Even after Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, capoeira was viewed suspiciously by authorities and its practitioners were often harassed or imprisoned.” As seen in the second image, a colonial officer is approaching the two, seeming at a rush to stop this dance of capoeira (one of “efficiency and beauty”). This particular illustration is by English artist Augustus Earle, who resided in Rio de Janeiro from 1820-24.

Source:

Cromwell, Rose Marie, and Seth Kugel. “The Physical and Spiritual Art of Capoeira.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 13 Dec. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/arts/dance/capoeira-permangolinha-cobra-mansa.html.