Twelve Prophets of Aleijadinho

The Twelve Prophets are a set of soapstone sculptures completed between 1800 and 1805 by the artist Antônio Francisco Lisboa, commonly known as Aleijadinho. The sculptures are located in the Brazilian municipality of Congonhas do Campo, where they adorn the forecourt of the Santuário do Bom Jesus de Matosinhos.

Each sculpture in the series commemorates a prophet of the Hebrew Bible. The twelve sculptures do not correspond to the Twelve Minor Prophets, but include some of the Major Prophets and prophets whose works are part of the Old Testament deuterocanon. Each figure holds a scroll with a text, in Latin, from their biblical writings.

Amazing spirit and power emanates from the heroic figures of the twelve prophets. ...Highly theatrical, the figures show individuality and inner greatness, held fast by the massiveness of their material - stone.

It is likely that Aleijadinho himself, in his 70s when these works were completed, only carved the top half of the figures, the lower portions being executed by other carvers of his workshop. During this time in his life Aleijadinho, who suffered a debilitating disease believed to be leprosy, did all his carving behind screens in this workshop, "his chisel and mallet strapped to the stumps of his deformed hands."

It has been noted that two of the statues, Joel and Jonah, seem to have had their positions reversed. "[T]he direction of the gaze of these two figures appears to out of harmony with the arrangement of the others." Also, if the positions of these two statues were reversed, then all of the figures would be placed in chronological order.

A prophet of the Old Testament, Isaiah, opens the series at the staircase entrance on the left side of the Santuário. This sculpture has features characteristic of a person of advanced age, including a full beard and thick hair. He wears a short tunic, which covers his lower legs and boots sidewalks, and over which in draped a large mantle. He holds a parchment scroll from his left hand, while the right points to the text inscribed upon it.

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