From the “Paulista peasant” to the “Independence men”: interpretations under dispute over the national past in the Hall of Honor of Museu Paulista

ABSTRACT In this article we analyze the narrative transformation that took place in the Hall of Honor of the Museu Paulista, between 1895, year of its inauguration, and the celebration of the centenary of the Independence of Brazil, in 1922. We observed intellectual and political articulations of historical narrative nature based on the commission of paintings specially dedicated to that celebratory space of the founding of the nation, aiming to understand what reasons must have guided the rise process of a landmark of the Empire during the First Republic. Therefore, we address projects that have had discontinuity and deviations both from the political elite and intellectuals and painters.