preferences. Social change would have repercussions on the arts such as the modernist movement, whose principles were very opposed to academics. The accusations of plagiarism raised against Batalha dos Guararapes and Primeira Missa are further evidence that the academic tradition in the country was already beginning to wear out as soon as it was consolidated. Among academics, the citation and paraphrase of other people's works and the use of traditional typological and compositional conventions were not only acceptable but even expected elements in the constitution of a work of art that deserved such a name, attesting to the artist's erudite training and his recognition. of the authority of the masters. Indeed, in the academic system, copying works by established masters of the past and present was an essential part of training, and Meirelles left many in this category. Overall he did not create a new language, and his success as a creator of valid symbols to this day is the mark of his originality using traditional resources. Brazilian academicism did not shy away from absorbing elements of realism in its love of precise detail. Meirelles' works, especially in his final phase, reveal a strong influence of this current in this aspect. In this phase he composed his panoramas, the most important works of the period, and those that bring him closer to the modern universe, both in terms of genre and in the techniques of creation and exhibition, and in their commercial, advertising and educational purposes. Critical reception and legacy Victor Meirelles was one of the most brilliant graduates of the Imperial Academy and one of the first Brazilian painters to receive recognition abroad. During his heyday he was one of the most respected artists of the Empire of Brazil and one of the most esteemed by the officialdom. For critics attuned to the civilizing program of emperor Pedro II, the Meirelles' generation, in which he and Pedro Américo came out as the greatest, was the founder of the national school of modern painting, therefore being considered the true avant-garde of the time. Meirelles was the teacher of many painters who would later make a name for themselves, among them Antônio Parreiras, Belmiro de Almeida, Décio Villares, Eliseu Visconti, Oscar Pereira da Silva, João Zeferino da Costa, Modesto Brocos y Gomez, Rafael Frederico, Rodolfo Amoedo, Pedro Peres and Almeida Júnior. His most important production, recognized during his lifetime, is the