The comparative researches and the 'impartial and simple' drawings of Antonio Lopes Mendes in Brazil (1882-1883)

Abstract

This article analyses the singularity of Antonio Lopes Mendes (1835-1894), a Portuguese agronomist who travelled his own country and around the world (especially India and Brazil) joining scientific and commercial missions. This experience resulted in an abundant textual and iconographic documentation, still barely studied. Like other 'men of science' and polytechnicians at the time, Lopes Mendes showed a notorious sensibility for visual expression, making comparative researches with the 'impartiality' and 'simplicity' of his drawings. As an attentive, meticulous, and productive drawer, he stayed in Brazil between 1882 and 1883, going through many regions of the country, and closely examined the North. The visual and textual descriptions of his fieldwork help us understanding the interdisciplinary nature of the scientific knowledge, as well as its structure and communication through visual arts in the 19th century.