Rare View of Olinda Pernambuco Brazil and Dutch Fleet, 1671
Original 17th-century copper engraving showing Olinda in Pernambuco, Brazil, with an extensive fleet of ships in the foreground.
Title: Olinda de Phernambuco
Maker: John Ogilby (1600–1676), after Arnoldus Montanus (1625–1683)
Plate Production: After the plates prepared for Jacob van Meurs, Amsterdam
Place of Publication: London, England
Date: 1671
Technique: Copper engraving on laid paper
Subject: Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil Dutch fleet and colonial maritime history
Description: An impressive and highly detailed 17th-century view of Olinda in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, dominated by an extraordinary panorama of sailing ships and naval activity.
The fortified settlement of Olinda appears on the horizon to the right, while the waters in the foreground are crowded with European sailing vessels, smaller boats and military shipping. A numbered key identifies prominent locations and buildings within the landscape.
The scene relates to the Dutch campaigns in Portuguese Brazil during the 17th century and depicts the Dutch fleet operating off Pernambuco. The Dutch West India Company captured Olinda and nearby Recife in 1630, beginning a period of Dutch control in northeastern Brazil that lasted until 1654.
This engraving was published in London in 1671 in John Ogilby's America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World. Ogilby's work was closely based upon Arnoldus Montanus' De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld, published in Amsterdam in the same year by Jacob van Meurs, whose workshop produced the celebrated series of views of the Americas.
The composition is particularly attractive for its extensive maritime detail. Dozens of ships stretch across the harbor, while two large vessels dominate the foreground and the distant colonial settlements of Pernambuco form a dramatic horizon beneath an expansive cloud-filled sky.
An evocative early European representation of colonial Brazil and an excellent decorative work for collectors of Brazil, Dutch colonial history, maritime history and early views of the Americas.
Condition: Good antique condition with age-related toning, occasional spotting and handling marks. Original central vertical fold as issued. The sheet retains generous margins with irregular deckled edges and minor age-related imperfections. Please study the photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
Style / Period: Baroque 17th Century Of the Period
Publication: John Ogilby, America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World, London, 1671.
This is an original antique copper engraving published in 1671, not a modern reproduction.
Sold unframed. Any framed or interior images shown are for presentation and inspiration only.
Keywords: Olinda Pernambuco, antique Brazil engraving, Olinda Brazil, Pernambuco Brazil, Dutch Brazil, Dutch fleet Brazil, Dutch West India Company, colonial Brazil, John Ogilby, Arnoldus Montanus, Jacob van Meurs, 1671 engraving, 17th century Brazil, antique Brazilian view, Recife Pernambuco, Dutch colonial history, maritime engraving, naval engraving, sailing ships, colonial America, South America engraving, antique Americana, Baroque engraving, historical Brazil, Dutch Portuguese Brazil
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