The Brazilian architect and sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisbôa, called O Aleijadinho (1738-1814), an exponent of the rococo style, is acknowledged to be his country's greatest architect and sculptor.

O Aleijadinho (a nickname meaning "the little cripple") was born in Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais. He was the illegitimate son of the architect Manuel Francisco Lisbôa and a Negro slave girl. A lost document, dated 1790, was cited by his first biographer (Rodrigo Brêtas in the newspaper of Ouro Preto, 1858), who quoted from it extensively. The anonymous, contemporary author praised O Aleijadinho fulsomely, calling him "the new Praxiteles, [who] honors architecture and sculpture equally."

O Aleijadinho became physically disabled in his mid-30s and was described as "so sickly that he has to be carried everywhere and has to have his chisels strapped to him to be able to...