This essay aims to deepen the dynamics of circulation and re-invention of “quadratura” painting in Portuguese America throughout the 18th century. It focuses on the modalities of reception and transformation of original models produced by Bolognese artists in the 17th century (A. Mitelli and A. M. Colonna) and their Atlantic diffusion, namely in Portugal and in colonial Brazil during the reign of D. John V (V. Bacherelli, N. Nasoni, A. Simões Ribeiro, J. de Deus Sepúlveda). The art of “quadratura” builds and displays the symbolic and hierarchical structure of the power/s. It is able to fully meet the political, cultural and visual demands of the Lusitanian court, of the colony’s elites and of the social groups that integrate the complex process of construction of the Portuguese empire in America.