For nearly twenty-five years, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) occupied part of the northeast of Brazil. This situation, which pertained long ago in the distant past of the XVII century remains... Show moreFor nearly twenty-five years, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) occupied part of the northeast of Brazil. This situation, which pertained long ago in the distant past of the XVII century remains one of the most discussed and studied themes both within and outside the academic world up to the present day. The sugar trade, society, religion, slave trade and the life and work of individuals are all discussed. Although the most important battles on land and sea in the area were regularly described in many historical narratives, some of the most important protagonists in the process of the conquest and occupation of Brazil were forgotten: the soldiers of the WIC. This research was set up with the objectives of reconstructing the life history of a selection of the many anonymous characters who participated in the conquest and occupation of Brazil and investigating the conditions of everyday life for the people of war sent to Brazil between 1629 and 1653. Show less
Arguing that landscape is culturally constructed by social relations and power, my analysis of Frans Post’s landscapes has shown two things: Post’s first canvases, commissioned by Johan Maurits,... Show moreArguing that landscape is culturally constructed by social relations and power, my analysis of Frans Post’s landscapes has shown two things: Post’s first canvases, commissioned by Johan Maurits, Count of Nassau-Siegen, depict specific Brazilian sites according to chorographical and accurate topographical profiles. Frans Post was representing Brazil as a New Holland in the Tropics, a visual strategy due to a Nassau-orangist colonial project. The later paintings, done in the context of colonial defeat, were related to a market of the “Exotic”. They seem to show a crack that revealed two distinct Dutch attitudes to Brazil: a) General expectations about Brazilian landscapes were related to economical interests about sugar production, slave trade and naturalia for cabinets of curiosity. Therefore, these pushed Frans Post’s production toward an indiscriminating image, depicting Brazil as Amoenitates exoticae; and b) Some other few images, that still depicted Brazil in straight reference to specific Brazilian localities, used the motif of ruins to evoke vanitas conventions in order to mark a visual memento of colonial failure. This smaller public for Brazilian landscapes were probably discontented with civil rule after the end of stathouderate in 1650. Show less
