hercule florenceinventios

palmian order

“It is not possible to cross the immense Brazilian forests without being impressed by the magnificence of its many varieties of palm trees, one more beautiful than the other.” (manuscript L'Ami des Arts, p. 235). This is how Hercule Florence describes the palm trees he came across in his wanderings through Brazil and gives the starting point to what he called The Brazilian or Palmian Architectural Order (in the original in French, Ordre Brésilien ou Palmien).

In another passage of the manuscript L'Ami des Arts (p. 317), he adds: "One cannot look at a palm tree or even an entire palm forest without experiencing religious awe and admiration. A palm tree is a small temple where you can see the column, the pedestal, the capital, the vault and the dome...”..

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FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 53 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 53 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 54 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23,3 x 17,9 x 1,4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 54 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23,3 x 17,9 x 1,4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 55 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 55 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 57 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Collection Instituto Hercule Florence (São Paulo) – Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 57 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Collection Instituto Hercule Florence (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

Hercule Florence also records that the primacy, however, belonged to the artists associated with the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro, who had designed, for the reception of the future Empress Amélie de Leuchtenberg (1812-1873, Dom Pedro I’s second wife) in 1829, a capital which featured large palm leaves and raised a wooden column clad in cloth.

In 1852, nearly three decades after his journey through Brazil as part of the Langsdorff Expedition (1825-1829), Hercule Florence described what would become the sixth architectural order, highlighting its main sources of inspiration: the palm trees known as jerivá, acuri (guacuri), buriti, babaçu (guaguaçú), guariroba, carandá, bocaiúva (bocajuva) and, especially, the pindoba (pindova) – whose leaves are arranged in a semicircle and within a vertical plane, “a form beautifully appropriate for the Brazilian capital” (Troisième livre de premiers matériaux, pág. 53).

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 58 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 58 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 59 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 59 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 60 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 60 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Page 61 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Page 61 of the manuscript “Troisième livre de premiers matériaux”] - 1840-1860 - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 23.3 x 17.9 x 1.4 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo)
Photo: Heitor Florence.

FLORENCE, Hercule - Carandá-brabo. Sur le chemin de Cuyabá au Diamantino [On the path from Cuyabá to the Diamantino], 9 December 1827. Hercule Florence fecit. - 1827 - Ink on paper – 21.5 x 29.3 cm - Archives of the Academy of Sciences Collection (St. Petersburg). — FLORENCE, Hercule
Carandá-brabo. Sur le chemin de Cuyabá au Diamantino [On the path from Cuyabá to the Diamantino], 9 December 1827. Hercule Florence fecit. - 1827 - Ink on paper - 21.5 x 29.3 cm
Archives of the Academy of Sciences Collection (St. Petersburg).

FLORENCE, Hercule - Guariróva. Sur le Chemin de Cuyabá au Diamantino, Décembre 1827. Hercule Florence, ft. - 1827 - Indian ink on paper - 22.0 x 30.7 cm - Archives of the Academy of Sciences Collection (St. Petersburg). — FLORENCE, Hercule
Guariróva. Sur le Chemin de Cuyabá au Diamantino, Décembre 1827. Hercule Florence, ft. - 1827 - Indian ink on paper - 22.0 x 30.7 cm
Archives of the Academy of Sciences Collection (St. Petersburg).

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Drawing from the Carnet de dessins] - [1825] - Watercolor on paper - 19.3 x 24.7 cm - Bibliothèque Nationale de France Collection (Paris). — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Drawing from the Carnet de dessins] - [1825] - Watercolor on paper - 19.3 x 24.7 cm
Bibliothèque Nationale de France Collection (Paris).

FLORENCE, Hercule - [Study on the classical architectural orders, Page 41 of the manuscript “Livre d’annotations et de premiers matériaux”] - undated - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 22.5 x 18.1 x 3.3 cm (closed) - Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence. — FLORENCE, Hercule
[Study on the classical architectural orders, Page 41 of the manuscript “Livre d’annotations et de premiers matériaux”] - undated - Ferrogallic ink on paper - 22.5 x 18.1 x 3.3 cm (closed)
Institute Hercule Florence Collection (São Paulo) - Photo: Heitor Florence.

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE:

FLORENCE, Hercule. Livre d'annotation et de premiers matériaux, 1829-1836. Manuscrito, Tinta ferrogálica sobre papel, 22,5 x 17,5 x 3,3 cm (fechado). Coleção Instituto Hercule Florence (São Paulo)
FLORENCE, Hercule. Troisième livre de premiers matériaux, 1840-1860. Manuscrito, Tinta ferrogálica sobre papel, 23,3 x 17,2 x 1,4 cm (fechado). Coleção Instituto Hercule Florence (São Paulo)
Hercule Florence e o Brasil: o percurso de um artista-inventor. [São Paulo]: Pinacoteca do Estado, [2009]. (catálogo de exposição)
FLORENCE, Hercule. « [Manuscrit] Essai d´un 6.me Ordre d´Architecture Ordre Brésilien ou Palmien. » in Hercule Florence. Le Nouveau Robinson. Milan : Humboldt Books / Monaco : Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, [2017]. p. 345-355.

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