The painting features moody classical ruins with a colonnade, a single, ruined column in the center and a decaying temple front. The minerals take the place of the objects typically found in the foreground of De Chirico’s painting, and they blurred the line between painting and reality.⁴² The two dimensional became an immersive experience that added power to the message. This exhibit was meant to express more than the simple understanding of Brazil’s petrology. De Chirico is known for his “metaphysical” style of painting that conveyed brooding feelings of mystery and loneliness. The root of the metaphysical art attempted to capture the question “what does it mean to exist?”.⁴³  

When read in relationship to the context of the pavilion, the conflicting ideas of Brasilidade and the political context of Brazil in 1939, the exhibit seems to be expressing this search for a national identity. Perhaps the question of the metaphysical can be re-framed into “what does it mean to be Brazilian?”. The ruins in the background harken back to the bitter roots of colonialism and symbolize the melancholy feeling of the European influence on Brazil. Because of the futuristic theme of the world’s fair, it also symbolizes a departure from the past history of Brazil. This exhibit shows that the intention of the pavilion was not meant to convey information but express deeper feelings about Brazilian identity and culture.

De Cherico, Giorgio. Painting with Mineral Rocks
in the Foreground. 1939.