D. Pedro II was born in the São Cristóvão Palace (Quinta da Boa Vista), Rio de Janeiro-RJ, on December 2, 1825 and died in Paris, on December 5, 1891. Son of D. Pedro I and his wife, the Empress Leopoldina, he was given the name of Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Salvador Bebiano Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Gonzaga.
He was acclaimed emperor on April 7, 1831, the same day that his father abdicated . His legal guardian was José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva . He was declared adult on July 23, 1840 and was crowned on July 18 of the following year. The reign of D. Pedro II, therefore, began on the day he was declared adult.
Dom Pedro II was married September 4, 1843 to Princess Teresa Cristina. Their most famous child was Princess Isabel, who married Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston, comte d'Eu, son of Louis Charles Philippe Raphael, duc de Nemours.
Pedro II gave Brazil 49 years of domestic peace, prosperity and progress. During his reign "União e Indústria" (Union and Industry), the first paved road, was built; the first steam-engine started running; the submarine cable was installed; the telephone was inaugurated and the postal stamp was instituted.
In November 15, 1889 the military, chiefed by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca, proclaims the Republic of Brazil. There was no violence. The emperor D. Pedro II was sent to Europe.

NADAR
Gaspard-Felix Tournachon, apelidado NADAR, foi um famoso fotógrafo retratista françês. Em 1853, embora ele se considerasse essencialmente um caricaturista, tornou-se um excelente fotógrafo e abriu seu estúdio, localizado em Paris.
Nadar fotografou vários artistas famosos, escritores, músicos, atores, políticos e a realeza do século 19: Liszt, Balzac, Delacroix, Emile Zola, Sarah Bernhardt, Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier, D. Pedro II, Gustave Doré, Victor Hugo, Rossini, entre outros.
A primeira e mais famosa exposição impressionista aconteceu de 15 de abril a 15 de maio de 1874, no estúdio do fotógrafo Nadar.