Dutch Brazil – Johannes Janssonius, 1651

CONQUESTS IN DUTCH BRAZIL

“Veroveringe van Rio Grande in Brasil. Anno 1633.” [Conquest of Rio Grande in Brazil. In the year 1633.] Etching published by Johannes Janssonius in Amsterdam in 1651 as part of Isaak Commelin’s “Frederick Hendrick van Nassauw Prince van Orangien: zyn leven en bedryf.” [Frederick Hendrick of Nassau, Prince of Orange: his life and deeds.] Coloured by a later hand. Size (plate mark): 28.6 × 38.1 cm.

Following the successes of the privateers of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) in 1627 and 1628—including the capture of the Spanish silver fleet by Piet Hein in 1628—the Company acquired sufficient capital to further challenge the colonial dominance of the Portuguese and Spanish.

In early 1629, the WIC resolved to first seize the Portuguese possessions in northeastern Brazil. The northern coast offered an excellent base for attacks on the Spanish treasure fleets and was the center of sugar production. In 1630, an expeditionary force of 67 ships and 7,000 men under Admiral Hendrick Lonck and Colonel Diederick van Waerdenburgh captured several fortifications around Recife and Olinda from the Portuguese. Despite these rapid and relatively easy victories along the coast, the Dutch failed to conquer the entire Portuguese colony, leaving the Portuguese a persistent threat.

In 1631, a Spanish-Portuguese armada was repelled during the Battle of Recife, yet in the interior the Portuguese continued to resist for years. Supported by reinforcements from the Dutch Republic and defections from the Portuguese side, Van Waerdenburgh—by then appointed governor—was able to conquer several captaincies in the northeast, ultimately controlling the coastline from Rio Grande to Cabo de Santo Agostinho by 1634.

The etching depicts the Brazilian coast with the Forte dos Reis Magos at the mouth of the Rio Grande River (present-day Rio Potenji). Following its capture in December 1633, the fortress was renamed Fort Keulen. Dutch ships are shown anchored offshore and within the river.

Price: Euro 450,-