Opposite the reception, through a dividing porch, and already outside the exhibit area, is an area exclusively reserved for original 18th century illustrations and maps, including a graphic collection of unparalleled importance, donated by the Albuquerque family, and in which recovery the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga played a decisive role.

The maps gathered here help us establish a broad framework of the geopolitics organization at the time, thanks to a profuse and accurate topogra-phic work covering rivers, buildings and vegetation. The configuration and geographic distribution, and its toponymy, the military organization with the delimitation of strategic points, areas of foreign influence or outside the Crown’s domain, among many other elements, are crucial data to restore the role of Portugal in Brazil and to understand the legacy the two countries exchanged.

In this room the visitors will have privileged access to the tropical landscape representing three centuries ago, through a wide variety of plant and animal species illustrated in detail. An extensive renovation work allowed to present the public within a space specifically designed to preserve the integrity of the documents, beautiful representations of flora - trees, plants, flowers and a variety of fruits - and the local wildlife - birds, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish - as well as table of contents, constituting a veritable compendium of the natural history of Brazil.