A study of the images and visual testimonies of what is now Argentina, at the end of the 18th century through three Spanish expeditions. With the three studied cases, the entrance of GerÑnimo Matorras to the Chaco in 1774, trips of Felix de Azara made between the 1782 and 1801 and Malaspina expedition (1789-1794), Penhos analyses the relations between the ways to see, to know and to dominate the South American territory.