Tarsila do Amaral's 1924 Self-Portrait Analyzed Through Photographic Process and Sacred Iconography

Tarsila do Amaral's 1924 painting 'Autorretrato I' was created using a mechanical tracing process from a photographic portrait, resulting in a synthetic image. This method, involving tracing onto tissue paper and transferring to canvas, produced a work that scholars link to the sacred image of Jesus Christ on the Veil of Veronica, particularly through its hypnotic, direct gaze. The painting and its 1926 version, 'Autorretrato II', became iconic symbols of Brazilian Modernism, featured on exhibition catalog covers in Paris (1926) and Rio de Janeiro (1929) and widely reproduced in press illustrations. Critic Antonio Raposo (Oswaldo Costa) notably praised her 1928 painting 'Cartão-postal' in the Correio Paulistano, comparing it favorably to her landmark work 'Antropofagia'. The self-portrait's schematic power also inspired graphic reinterpretations and caricatures by contemporaries like Di Cavalcanti and Pagu in 1929. The analysis situates this work within her broader 'anthropophagic' phase, which includes seminal paintings like 'A negra' (1923), 'Abaporu' (1928), and 'Antropofagia' (1929).