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Rare view of Bahia Todos Sanctos from Gaspar Barlaeus' Rerum per Octennium in Brasilia et Alibi Nuper Gestarum, published in Amsterdam in 1647.
Nice example of Post's dramatic view of the Bay of All Saints in Brazil, also known as Sao Salvador, or Bahia. The town was first founded by the Portugese in 1549 and was a favorite haunt for pirates and merchant privateers. The town flourished with the development of the sugar plantations and became an important political and economic center.
In the late 1630s, Holland attempted to reassert its claim over Brazil by establishing a series of forts along the coastline. One of the best-documented colonies was the expedition led by Prince Maurits of Nassau, who attempted to assemble an intellectual court in the New World. He brought with him a group of highly accomplished artists, mapmakers, and scientists to record the mysteries of Brazil. They included the celebrated painter Frans Post, and the astronomer George Markgraf, who produced the first serious study of the southern sky.
Post painted a wealth of images of the Brazilian landscape and the surrounding vegetation and wildlife. His works are some of the earliest European paintings of Brazil and were eagerly reproduced in print by Dutch engravers.
![Suite Du Bresil . . . [2 maps]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/103662.jpg)
