View of Itamaracà Island in Brazil

When Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen travelled to the Dutch colony in Brazil, he took some artists with him to record the strange new world. One of them was Frans Post, who painted this view of the island of Itamaracá. In the foreground are two Dutchmen, accompanied by two beslaved African men. One of the men is waving to Schoppestadt, today's Vila Velha, on the opposite shore.

In Brazil, Post painted natural landscapes. On his return to Haarlem, he continued to paint Brazilian landscapes, which then became increasingly imaginative and colourful.