Nature portrayed in images in Dutch Brazil: Tracing the sources of the plant woodcuts in theHistoria Naturalis Brasiliae(1648)

Abstract

AbstractBy the mid-seventeenth century, images of natural elements that originated in Dutch Brazil circulated in Europe. These were often included in art collections (theLibri Picturati), and natural history treatises (theHistoria Naturalis Brasiliaeand theIndia Utriesque re Naturale et Medica). The plant woodcut images in these books constituted (icono) type specimens and played a significant role in the transmission of (botanical) knowledge. We present a systematic analysis of their origins by cross-referencing the visual and textual sources related to Dutch Brazil. To do so, we used the scientific identifications of the portrayed plants and digital archival material. The plant woodcuts accounted for 529 images, which correspond to 426 taxa. We created a PDF booklet to visualize the correlations of the woodcuts with theLibri Picturatiand other visual sources. Substantial differences in the visual-making methodology exist between the two treatises (1648, 1658). Overall, availability, economy, and the Indigenous Tupi-based plant names that accompanied the images were crucial when arranging the sources, as well as portraying as much botanical information as possible.Freshly picked, living plants, and dried branches, fruits, and seeds were used to represent the megadiverse Brazilian flora, even when these belonged to species originating from other regions. Despite not being recognized for their contribution, Indigenous Brazilians and enslaved Africans were essential in the visual knowledge-making processes that later resulted in these natural history collections. As several sources remain lost and many histories yet untold, further archival studies and collaborative projects are pertinent to reveal the missing pieces of this conundrum.