height of a man contained her trousseau, books, collections and gifts for the future family. She brought also an impressive household: court ladies, a chambermaid, a butler, six ladies-in-waiting, four pages, six Hungarian nobles, six Austrian guards, six chamberlains, a chief Almoner, a chaplain, a private secretary, a doctor, a performer, a mineralogist and her painting teacher. The Archduchess definitively parted for Brazil two days later, on 15 August. The differences in habits and customs, already noticed in the period since she embarked, foreshadowed the difficulties that she would face in Rio de Janeiro. The first time she set foot on Portuguese territory, however, it was not on Brazilian land, but on Madeira Island, on 11 September. On 5 November 1817, Maria Leopoldina arrived to Rio de Janeiro, where she finally met her husband and his family. The next day, the official marriage ceremony took place at the Capela Real of Rio de Janeiro Cathedral amidst celebrations all over the city. Upon her arrival, the physical appearance of Maria Leopoldina surprised the Portuguese royal family, who were awaiting a beautiful Archduchess. Instead, she was overweight, though with a beautiful face. However, she was also extraordinarily cultured for her time, with a keen interest in botany. The arrival provided Jean-Baptiste Debret with an occasion for his first commission, where he had 12 days to decorate the city. He had a studio in the Catumbi neighborhood, where as a naturalist, he later made drawings of plants and flowers for Maria Leopoldina. He would say: "I was in charge of graciously executing some drawings for her that she dared to ask for", he said, "in the name of his sister, former Empress of the French ". In his atelier, Debret designed the great gala uniforms of the court, in green and gold, the decorations of the new state, and previously designed the crown created by Napoleon in 1806 for the Kingdom of Italy. Debret also designed the insignia of the Order of the Southern Cross, comparable to the Medal of the Legion of Honor, and years later he also designed the Imperial Order of the Rose, instituted in honor of Dom Pedro's second wife, Amélie of Leuchtenberg. From a distance, the Portuguese Royal Prince initially appeared to his new wife as a perfect, well-educated gentleman, but the reality was very different. Dom Pedro was a year younger than Maria Leopoldina and rarely measured