Visual Voyages: Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin

An unprecedented visual exploration of the intertwined histories of art and science, of the old world and the new From the voyages of Christopher Columbus to those of Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, the depiction of the natural world played a central role in shaping how people on both sides of the Atlantic understood and imaged the region we now know as Latin America.Nature provided incentives for exploration, commodities for trade, specimens for scientific investigation, and manifestations of divine forces.It also yielded a rich trove of representations, created both by natives to the region and visitors, which are the subject of this lushly illustrated book.Author Daniela Bleichmar shows that these images were not only works of art but also instruments for the production of knowledge, with scientific, social, and political repercussions.Early depictions of Latin American nature introduced European audiences to native medicines and religious practices.By the 17th century, r