The Correction of Bodies: State Racism and Academic Sculpture in Chile (1854-1910)

Abstract

Scientific racism, one of the most significant theories of thought of the 19th century, assumed the superiority of one of the human races: the white or Aryan, a hierarchy that had to be maintained in a biological sense for the protection of the species. In this scenario, the State would assume the role of protector of the integrity, superiority and purity of this race, acting through multiple fields and institutions. One of these areas was the fine arts, the Academy and the discipline of sculpture, which played a fundamental role due to their pregnancy and presence in public spaces. The present work investigates how this happened in Chile between 1854 and 1910, analyzing cases of local statuary that represent different races: Afros, indigenous people and whites, detailing the strategies that national sculptors used to aesthetically correct the bodies and demonstrate that the supposed The white race had a monopoly on beauty, intelligence and strength in an eminently mestizo country.