countries. Still in the 17th century, in the context of the Dutch occupation of northeastern Brazil, Prince John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen brought to Brazil a significant group of collaborators, among which we can mention Willem Piso, a doctor who came to study tropical diseases; Frans Post, famous painter, then in his early twenties; Albert Eckhout, also a painter; cartographer Cornelius Golijath; the astronomer Georg Marggraf, who, with Piso, would be the author of Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (Amsterdam, 1648), the first scientific work on Brazilian nature. The Prince of Nassau-Siegen was also concerned with perpetuating the political events of his administration, entrusting Caspar Barlaeus with a history of his government in Brazil. Once the Dutch were expelled, the Portuguese became aware that the recovery of the territory was the result of a series of happy circumstances, which could no longer be repeated, in the event of a new invasion of the territory of Portuguese America. In view of this situation, Portugal has taken the policy of the State to prohibit the access of its overseas possessions to any and all foreigners, even prohibiting the publication of any news or reference to American lands. This State policy was effectively followed by several generations, from the middle of the 17th century until the arrival of the royal family to Brazil and the consequent opening of Brazil to the world, symbolized by the Decree of Opening Ports to Friendly Nations (Decreto de Abertura dos Portos às Nações Amigas), first act signed by Prince Regent John, during his stay in Salvador, in 1808. The opening of the ports and the consequent revocation of the ban on the landing of foreigners in Brazilian lands, which coincided with a difficult time for European naturalists, as their transit through Europe was significantly hampered by the Napoleonic Wars, coupled with the lack of knowledge about this immense portion of the globe's territory, aroused enormous scientific interest in Europe. Parallel to this world context, Maria Leopoldina, since her first youth (around 14-years-old), started to show a special interest in the natural sciences, especially in geology and botany. This fact did not go unnoticed by her teachers and by her father, Emperor Francis I of Austria, who surprised the young Archduchess's interests (they thought it would be more natural for such inclinations to arise in one of her brothers), but did nothing to hinder the young Maria Leopoldina's studies. Therefore, in