PF tries to identify man who destroyed historic clock in Planalto

The Federal Police (PF) is still trying to identify the man who destroyed a watch of great historical value during the attack on the Planalto Palace, in Brasília, on the 8th. third floor of the palace, where the presidential office is located, and throws to the ground the piece that Dom João VI brought to Brazil in 1808, when he transferred the Portuguese Court to the country, fleeing from Napoleon’s troops. Shown by Globo’s Fantástico program last Sunday, the images of the security system expose the vandal’s face and went viral on social networks still outside the Planalto Palace, in Praça dos Três Poderes. In at least one photo published by Agência Brasil, the man appears in the foreground, among other people facing the police. In the background, it is possible to see the already vandalized STF building, with several broken windows and graffiti. Agência Brasil is a public news agency maintained by Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), Video frame from a security camera showing a vandal in action at the Planalto Palace – Reproduction/ TV Brasil Anyone who has any information about the identity of the man or other people who participated in the attack on the Planalto Palace, the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court (STF) can file complaints through the e-mail created by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to receive information. The email is [email protected]. Historical and symbolic value The destroyed pendulum clock is attributed to the famous French watchmaker Balthazar Martinot. Although Martinot produced several pieces for the French court, only two examples have withstood the test of time – one of them, the one given as a gift to Dom João VI and brought to Brazil in 1808. The other is kept in the Palace of Versailles, in Paris. According to the Director of Curatorship of the Presidential Palaces, Rogério Carvalho, the material value of the destroyed clock is enormous, but its historical and symbolic value is even greater. According to Carvalho, it is possible to restore the piece, but the effectiveness of the service is uncertain. “Everything can be recovered, but not necessarily completely. We are deciding who will carry out the restoration. We have already received some technical cooperation offers and we will only know how much of it can be restored when we finish these conversations”, Carvalho told Agência Brasil, confirming that the clock no longer worked. “In 2010, we made an attempt, but the watchmakers who tried could not make it work, as it is a very specific and old mechanism”, added Carvalho, explaining that, for this reason, the watch was not showing the correct time when was thrown to the ground. The difference, perceived by people who watched the scenes recorded by the security system of the Palácio do Planalto, motivated many Internet users to disclose, on social networks, that the still unidentified man would be an “infiltrator” in the coup d’état and anti-democratic movement that had access to the Palácio hours before the crowd arrived at Praça dos Três Poderes and invaded public buildings. “This is something for people who have nothing to do or worse. The clock was not working. That’s why I was setting the wrong time. Since yesterday, I have answered this to several journalists, denying this fake news, which is a problem, because after they are released, they reach a large number of people and, afterwards, it is very difficult to deny it to everyone”, stressed Carvalho. The damage to the artistic and architectural heritage during the last day 8 was enormous. At the Planalto Palace alone, a preliminary balance showed damage to a painting by the painter Di Cavalcanti, As Mulatas, whose value is estimated at around R$ 8 million. At least two important sculptures were damaged: The Pied Piper, by Bruno Giorgi, whose pieces were scattered across the third floor hall, and a piece by Frans Krajcberg, whose wooden parts were broken and thrown away. A table used by former President of the Republic Juscelino Kubitscheck that was on display in the same room was also damaged when used as a barricade. In addition, many paintings hanging in the corridors of the three floors were broken or erased and, in many cases, it was not possible to assess the extent of the damage. For Carvalho, part of the destroyed or damaged works may, in the future, come to compose a kind of memorial dedicated to remembering the most serious attack on Brazilian democratic institutions, but, in his view, this does not prevent them from being restored, without losing their characteristics. . “The idea of ​​a memorial is very important, but I don’t see the need to keep the objects misconfigured. I tend to agree with the importance of exposing all the marks of time, but, if possible, preserving the functioning [ou características essenciais] of each object. Regarding the watch [de Martinot]what I intend is for it to be available to the population, in the Planalto Palace itself, and restored as far as possible”, added the Director of Curatorship of the Presidential Palaces.

Agência Brasil