Case file · Apparition / miracle
Escrava Anastácia
In 1968, at an exhibition for the 80th anniversary of abolition at Rio's Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, a drawing of an enslaved woman in an iron face mask drew devotion. She became 'Anastácia', a popular saint credited with healing.
1968 CE · -22.90, -43.18 · status: legend
The account
Devotees tell of a beautiful enslaved woman punished with the mask for refusing her master. The image comes from a drawing by Jacques Arago, made during a French voyage of 1817–20. The Catholic Church does not recognise her cult.
The sceptical view
There is no historical record of a woman called Anastácia; the drawing shows an unnamed person.