an analysis, [be based on] a great number of reasonings derived, at the same time from the consideration of credible and probable circumstances, and from a knowledge of the laws and conventions of art". Surprisingly, art critic Gonzaga Duque himself, the most influential opponent of the academics, despite heavily criticizing the work, found in it elements to say that Américo had finally managed to break free from the orthodoxy of academicism and create a new and personal language of great vigor. At the same time, Américo was accused of plagiarizing the composition Battle of Montebelo by Italian painter Andrea Appiani, and another controversy tried to decide which of the two battles, Americo's Batalha de Avaí or Meirelles's Batalha de Guararapes, was the best one. The case was epoch-making in Brazil and became known as the Artistic Question of 1879. After the resounding repercussion of Batalha de Avaí, Américo tried to convince the government to support him in the painting of Batalha de 24 de Maio, depcting the Battle of Tuyutí, but even after offering the work for free the project did not bear fruit. Disenchanted, Américo resigned from the Academy, which was denied. At any rate, taking advantage of the Emperor's esteem for him, he obtained a leave of absence and set out again. At the beginning of the 1880s, already in Europe, he still tried to return to the theme of battles, designing a Battle of San Marino, to be acquired by the Italian government, but he did not go beyond the preparatory sketches. Américo spent the following years mainly in Florence, abandoning civic matters that had a market only in the government itself and dedicating himself to works of a late and sentimental Romanticism, in allegories and scenes of oriental, historical or biblical themes, types that he personally preferred and that had greater penetration among the public, among them A Noite acompanhada dos gênios do Estudo e do Amor, Joana d'Arc ouve pela primeira vez a voz que lhe prediz o seu alto destino, A rabequista árabe, Os filhos de Eduardo IV and Dona Catarina de Ataíde e Jocabed levando Moisés até o Nilo. Several of these works participated in the Academy's halls or were exhibited in Florence, and many were acquired by the Brazilian government. In 1885 Américo briefly visited France and returned to Brazil to take up the chair of art history, aesthetics and archeology at