This country along the Amazon River was discovered, colonized, and expanded by the Portuguese after 1500. From 1630 until 1654, the Dutch occupied Recife and Olinda. The governor, John Maurice, Count of Nassau-Siegen, transformed the region into a profitable colony, especially through sugar production. Jewish immigrants settled as merchants in Recife. Frans Post (c. 1612–1680) and Albert Eeckhout (c. 1610–1669) produced several paintingsand drawings of the landscape and peoples of Brazil during these decades.
Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. EdwART. 2012.