[Brazil] Indische Strick-Brücke

Representation of Brazilian indigenous people building a suspension bridge of lianas deep in the tropical jungle. Defying the conventional European representations of Native Americans as passive and incapable, Rugendas presents a dynamic scene of these people building, hunting and gathering resources. The vibrant tropical jungle and the riverbank form the backdrop of this scene. This particular engraving comes from the German edition of Rugendas’s travel account, published in 1836, known as the “Little Rugendas”. It is a very rare piece, since the lithographs of this artist were only included in the first two French and German editions of his work.