Abstract

MUNOZ ARBELAEZ, Santiago. Nineteenth-Century travel images: Charles Saffray's engravings of Colombia. Hist. graf [online]. 2010, n.34, pp.165-197. ISSN 1405-0927.

In 1861, Charles Saffray travelled through New Granada drawing and writing about what he saw. Ten years after his voyage, his narrative waspublished in the important journal Le Tour du Monde, accompanied by engravings that were meant to help readers visualize the narrative. By analyzing three engravings, this article analyzes the 'way of seeing' behind Saffray's texts and images. The article shows that, instead of being neutral, the images presented a 'way of seeing' the environment according to the interest of Nineteenth-Century European expansionists. In their transformation from sketch to engraving, the images allowed representations of Latin American geographies and nature to circulate, becoming imperial objects that, along with museums and royal gardens, exhibited other cultures and geographies to Europe.

Keywords : travel; Colombia; Nineteenth-Century; engravings; ways of seeing.

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