IGREJA DE SÃO FRANCISCO DE ASSIS

The São Francisco church appears as the jewel of the beautiful Vila Rica, the one that you must visit during your stay. If the churches of Ouro Preto are similar, with their baroque style and their whiteness highlighted with yellow ochre, the São Francisco de Assis church stands out for its particular style. Aleijadinho is said to have designed the plans and sculpted the façade between 1766 and 1794. There is a fine balance between the white masses and the soapstone sculptures of the façade, or the richness of the gilding of the altars; the gold does not overload everything, as in some churches in Salvador. The mastery of lighting is noteworthy, as the statue behind the altar, perched on a sort of set piece, is shown in a cleverly theatrical side light. The main altar is in the Rococo style. The pale and contrasting trompe-l'oeil ceiling paintings, common in Minas, are the work of the painter Mestre Manuel Ataíde. The unusual dimensions, the two round recessed towers, the convex aspect of the whole, the undulation of the stone walls set with white panels, the facade sculpture in soapstone, the door and the windows create a lively, original building, touching in its simplicity, on the verge of opening in corollas to reveal something. In the sacristy, a small museum in memory of Aleijadinho (with one of his famous works on display, Os quatro Leões de Essa). One of the two most beautiful churches in the city (with the Matriz do Pilar).