Representations of nature: maps and engravings produced during the Dutch rule in Brazil (1624/1654)

Abstract

The discoveries and conquest of the New World spawned an icrease in interest for the "exotic" products which, from the sixteenth century onwards, became part of the European collections appearing in botanical gardens and curiosity cabinets. This paper shall analyse maps and engravings produced during the Dutch rule as an attempt to synthesize the period since they offer delimitations as well as detailed illustrations of the territory, including references to nature and the inhabitants, and serve as both source of information and works of art. The Dutch presence in Brazil during the seventeenth century, though short, left us a treasure trove of data about the region, which amounts to a rich body of texts and iconography, offering us a picture of how priviledged a space Dutch Brazil was for the development of the sciences and the arts on American ground, specially in the city governed by Maurits Van Nassau.