National Library of Brazil Frieze - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Posted by: 
Metro2
S 22° 54.586 W 043° 10.542
23K E 687103 N 7465309
This building began to serve as the Nation's Library in 1858.
Waymark Code: WM11PB0
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date Posted: 11/25/2019
Views: 3
No information about the Library's frieze could be found on-line.
The frieze depicts in classical forms a monk working as a scribe on the left, an elderly scholar reading to a woman on the center left. In the center a standing goddess holding a torch of enlightenment. On the center right an infant with its mother holding a scroll...and on the far right, three additional figures...one seems to be using a magnifying glass to read, a woman is writing something using a board while distracted by someone bringing an item...perhaps a book? The artist and date are unknown to the poster of this waymark.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us about the Library:
""The Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil (English: National Library of Brazil) is the depository of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of Brazil. It is located in Rio de Janeiro,the Capital of Brazil from 1822-1960, more specifically at Cinelândia square.
The largest library in Latin America and the 7th largest in the world, its collections include about 9 million items. It organized the first library science courses in Latin America and its staff has led the modernization of library services, including the development of online databases...
The history of the National Library began on 1 November 1755, when Lisbon suffered a violent earthquake. The Royal Library was considered one of the most important libraries in Europe at that time. This irreparable loss to the Portuguese was the impetus for moving many of its contents to Brazil. The collection was brought in three stages, the first being in 1810 and two in 1811. The library of 60,000 books was accommodated initially in the upstairs rooms of the Third Order of Carmel Hospital (in accordance with the charter of July 27, 1810), located in the old back street of Carmel close to the Imperial Palace. The facilities, however, were considered inadequate and as well potentially jeopardizing the valuable collection. Therefore, on 29 October 1810, a date that was assigned to the official founding of the National Library, Prince Regent John (later King John VI of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves) issued a decree which provided that a royal library should be established from the funds of the royal treasury."