Dutch depictions of Brazilian animals: Between narratives of curiosity and descriptions of natural history

• In Event: Beyond Feathers: Visualizing Brazil in Early Modern Europe

Abstract

This paper deals with the visual legacy of Dutch Brazil for early modern zoology. It attempts to understand how depictions produced in situ of both singular curious animals and more commonly found native animals were appropriated and translated into the printed format. In order to do so, the paper focuses on two interrelated sets of visual materials: the watercolors and sketches by George Marcgraf that are presently part of the collection 'Libri Picturati' [LP] at the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow, Poland, and the zoological illustrations in the book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae [HNB] (Piso and Marcgraf 1648). The HNB was published by Johannes de Laet, who used the field notes and materials by George Marcgraf to compose the botanical and zoological chapters of the book. Because the HNB became one of the most authoritative sources for the natural history of Brazil for at least two centuries after its publication, the images therein formed an important go-to visual catalogue of the Brazilian fauna. By comparing the images of animals in the hand-made LP and the printed HNB, this paper examines the deliberate choices made by the editor and the publishers of the book to adapt images of Brazilian animals into a natural history narrative that could accommodate both singular curious beasts as well as the more widely found native animals.

Author

• Mariana C Françozo, Leiden University