Rosa Magalhães (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1947–2024) defined the history of Brazilian Carnival. She was the professional with the most titles won at the Sambódromo, and together with Lícia Lacerda, she was the first woman to win the prize, with Bumbum paticumbum prugurundum, for samba school Império Serrano in 1982. Throughout her career she produced more than forty parades for different samba schools.
Rosa graduated in painting and set design, and was a professor in set design and costume design at UFRJ. Her relationship with Carnival started in 1971, when Fernando Pamplona invited her to design the costumes for the Festa para um rei negro parade of samba school Acadêmicos do Salgueiro.
Her work is characterised by improbable narratives, often based on books or episodes from official historiography. She is considered a baroque Carnival art director, who brought together at Sapucaí relationships between characters, time periods and cultural manifestations.