Overdrawn from Life: Abolitionist Argument and Ethnographic Authority intheBrazilian 'Artistic Travels' ofJ.M. Rugendas,1827-35 ROBERT W. SLENES WhenBavarianartist JohannMoritzRugendascomposedhis 'Blacksin theShip'sHold', a strange thing happenedon thewayfrom thedrawing boardtothelithographer's stone.Between histwoknown sketches ofthe subject, presumably basedon notesmadeon boarda slaveshipin Brazil between1822 and 1825,and thefinalprint, exhibitedat the 1827-28 ParisArtSalon, the artist'raised the ceiling',givingthe imprisoned Africans inthesceneconsiderably morebreathing space.1(See Figures1 and 2 forthefirst sketch and thelithograph.)2 Rugendasinsisted in the captions tothisandtheotherillustrations inhisMalerische Reise inBrasilien ('Artistic Travels in Brazil'),publishedoriginally in instalments between 1827 and !835, thateach ofhisone hundredpictures was'drawnfrom life'.3 Yet,in thiscrucialinitialprintoftheclosingserieson 'moresand 1See RobertW. Sienes, 'As Provacöesde um Abraào Africano:a Nascente Naçâo Brasileira na ViagemAlegórica de Johann Moritz Rugendas', Revistade Historiada Artee Arqueología (Campinas), 2 (1995/96), 271-94 (full English version,519-36), with the sketches and lithographs compared in Figures7a - 7c, afterp. 294. On Rugendas in Brazilsee especially: NewtonCarneiro,Rugendas noBrasil(Rio de Janeiro:Kosmos, 1979); Pablo Diener and Maria de FátimaCosta,Rugendas e oBrasil(Säo Paulo: Capivara,2002). The lithograph wasone oftwo fromRugendas'sbook thatwereexhibitedat theParisArtSalon 1827-28. These were'thefirst explicitimagesof slavery to be shownin the Salon', accordingto Hugh Honour, TheImageof the Blackin Western ArtFrom the American Revolution toWorld WarI: Slavesand Liberators, iv.1. The Image ofthe Blackin Western Art,ed. byL. Bugner,4 vols. (Houston/Cambridge,MA: Menil Foundation/Harvard University Press,1989), p. 145. All translations intoEnglishare myown unlessotherwise stated. 2 In Rugendas's second sketchthe basic dimensionsof the ship had not changed; see the reproductionin Carneiro,p. 163, Sienes, Figure 7b (afterp. 194), and Diener and Costa, Rugendas e o Brasil, p. 175. 3 Frenchedition: Voyage Pittoresque dans leBrésil, trans,byPhilippe de Golbery.Both editions werepublishedbyEngelmannin Parisand Mulhausen. The twenty instalments thatmake up thebook werepublishedin one volumein 1835. In botheditionsthelegendsto theprintsare in French;the phrase translatedhere is 'dessiné d'après nature'. Hereaftera facsimilemade froma copyofthefinalGermaneditionof 1835 is cited (one withhand-tinted prints, possibly coloured afterthe copywas purchased), and cross-referenced to a Portuguesetranslation with colour reproductions made fromthesame copyas thefacsimile:respectively, [Johann]Moritz Rugendas,Malerische Reisein Brasilien (Stuttgart: Deco-VerlagBlase, 1986); and JohannMoritz Rugendas,Viagem Pitoresca através doBrasil,trans,bySergioMilliet(Belo Horizonte/Säo Paulo: Itatiaia/EDUSP,1989). Accordingtoan 1826 prospectus, buyers oftheinstalments weretohave theoptionofobtainingonlysevenplatesofcostumesfromPart2 in hand-tinted colour;therest ofthebook's lithographs wereto be onlyin greytone (Carneiro,p. 43). 56 ROBERTW.SLENES Fig. 1.J.M.Rugendas, sketch ofAfricans belowdeckina slaveship [notitle], ([n.d.]). Pencilonpaper,13.5x 23.7cm. Collection: Biblioteca Municipal MariodeAndrade, Sâo Paulo Fig.2.Nègres à Fond deCalle('BlacksintheShip'sHold'),lithograph byI. L. Deroi from a drawing byj.M.Rugendas. (From: J.M.Rugendas, Malerische Reise in Brasilien [Paris/Mûlhausen, 1835],Part4,plate1) ABOLITIONIST ARGUMENT AND J. M. RUGENDAS 57 customs oftheblacks', where he argued foroptimism aboutthefuture ofthenewBrazilian nation, heapparently broke with hisownobserved reality, potentially endangering theethnographic authority hehadtaken suchpainstoconstruct.4 In anearlier essay, I argued that hedidthis forpolitical reasons: not, however, todiminish theordealofAfricans forhispublic, butrather to dramatize ittotheutmost.5 With moreheadroombetween decks, the standing figure atleft-centre, lifting a bowltoreceive drink from a sailor through thehatch, couldnowbe portrayed on tiptoe, with bodyand arms stretched tothelimit. In thelithograph, Rugendas illuminates this redrawn figure, whilehe alsohighlights an expanded groupofsailors tothecentre-right thatis nowcharged with removing an unconscious or dead African notpresent in thesketches. The textaccompanying thelithograph provides thekey forus tounderstand thenewimage;it identifies the'lackofwater' intheslaveships as oneofthereasons for thehighdeathrateand 'themost frequent causeofrevolt amongthe blacks'.6 MostofRugendas's public, however, wouldnothaveneeded thisglossto 'read'thelithograph, sincethey wouldhaveremembered theparadigmatic caseofa slaver that hadthrown part ofitshuman cargo overboard, allegedly forwantof sufficient drinking supplies.7 These onlookers would haveimmediately perceived that thesailor ontheupper 4Various lithographers worked on Rugendas's book,underhissupervision; I. L. Deroiwas responsible for'Blacksin theShip'sHold'. Carneiro(pp. 33-38) arguedthatRugendas's supervision wasoften lax.Carneiro, however, seems totaketheapparent nonexistence, today, of most final drawings for theprints asevidence that theartist frequently letthelithographers work freely from hispreliminary sketches. Nonetheless, correspondence from thepublishing house, Engelmann, indicates that in1837thefirm notonly hadinitspossession inParis anunspecified number oftheartist's 'originals' (originaux) - surely thefinal drawings for thelithographs - as wellas'some'(quelques uns)oftheoriginals inMulhouse, butalsothat itwasconsidering selling as many as possible. Ifthesaleactually...