Our journey here is the search for us as great expositors, who have manifested all beauty and complexity of Brazil, of its flora, fauna, people, culture, and society.
We provide a view of the history of art in Brazil, especially works created during the centuries after the arrival of European explorers. From the detailed and realistic paintings of Albert Eckhout to the lush landscapes of Frans Post, our site shows the incredible art and skill of these early artists.
Of course, our site is more than a mere composite of images. Through research into the associated cultural and historical context of each piece, we also make insightful commentary and analysis, presenting themes and issues they address in general.
Either one is an art aficionado, a history zealot, or simply curious about that thrilling period Brazilians went through; there is the right spot to delve and learn about the rich artistic heritage of such a pulsating and eclectic land. So please come with us, therefore, on a journey across time and art into the first wonders of that legacy.
A Vision of what was Brazil Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries
The crossing of the Atlantic was part of the plan for overseas expansion dreamed of by the peoples of Europe.e might say that the interest in America was a "glimpse into the distance" and that the "appearance" of the part of the·globe depended on the European achievement in giving shape and visibility to the New World. Description and depiction were the means to make it a reality, to extricate it from the darkness. History is also manifested by visual means. What we see is what we know, what we find to be believable.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, America represented a new horizon for the Europeans, an unknown world waiting to be explored and revealed. The quest for the unknown has deep-seated motives, corresponding to the desire for interior growth. In cultural history, words such as journey, unknown and horizon are the favoured metaphors for developments in thought and knowledge. The conquest of America by the peoples of Europe can also be seen as the history of the attraction and longing excited by the distant and the remote.
It is reasonable to examine the meaning of the voyages of discovery to the New World, without restricting the debate simply to the economic and political factors which motivated them. What dreams and expectations fired the imagination of the European scientists who went to study tropical nature? What drove amateur and professional artists to discover Brazilian landscapes in the19th century?
Within the fantastic realms of The Odyssey, suggests Italo Calvino, we find the mythical archetype of all journeys and all travellers, the adventure of all adventures. We all identify with the search of Ulysses, who overcomes all obstacles and recovers the memory of the past and returns to Ithaca.
Fig1 - Joao Teixeira Albernaz - Captaincy of Sao Vicente |