On the physical and moral understanding of peoples: Iconography and Taxonomy in Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira's Philosophical Journey

Ferreira's philosophical journey generated a large amount of iconographic material. Freire and Codina, the expedition artists, created images that intended to represent taxonomic categories for the classification of Indian groups, taking into consideration their physical features, as well as their moral and political constitution. This type of Taxonomy is related to both seventeenth century scientific rules and the colonial perspective built up during Pombal times.

Philosophical Journey; Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira; Freire and Codina; travelling naturalists; Iconography; Taxonomy