Um “abrigo” para o acervo da Igreja da Sé: trajetória de institucionalização e implantação do Museu de Arte Sacra da Universidade Federal da Bahia (1939-1959)

Abstract

The research investigates the institutionalisation and implementation of the Museum of Sacred Art of the Federal University of Bahia (MAS-UFBA), in the chronological cut from 1939 to 1959 – making it a case study in the area of preservation of the national patrimony representing an idea of regional identity. The experiment of the university museum from Bahia is highlighted as a pioneer in Brazil. However, it did not happen without disputes and power games among agents and agencies, like Rodrigo Melo Franco de Andrade, director of the Service of Historical and Artistic Heritage (SPHAN), Godofredo Filho, representative of SPHAN’s Second District, Edgard Rêgo Santos, dean of UFBA, and D. Augusto Álvaro Cardeal da Silva, archbishop of Bahia and Primate of Brazil. Signs of previous attempts, so far unknown, of implementing the intended museum motivated this dissertation, seeking clarification that highlights which actions compose the trajectory. The documentation analysed ìs, in it’s majority, sourced from the archives of the Service of Historical and Artistic Heritage (SPHAN) and can clarify this path, highlighting three attempts of implementation and the indication of different buildings for hosting the museum – Basilica of Salvador, Saint Damasus Manor and the Convent of Saint Teresa. In the historiographic transient in which this path takes part, the demolition of the Primate of Brazil can be emphasized. Such an episode originated the debate of preservation of historic monuments in the first years of the XX century and, as a consequence, formed a sacred art collection owned by the Archdiocese Primate. Considering the political changes in the cultural scope, the need for protecting the valuable collection is made evident with the implantation of a museum that could serve it as a “shelter”. This project was extensively negotiated by SPHAN’s Second District, however, only to be realized after the partnership with UFBA was established.