The present thesis is a research regarding the new graphic language implemented in Brazil by Julião Machado at the end of the 19th Century. For such purpose, magazines A Cigarra and A Bruxa produced by Julião Machado and Olavo Bilac between 1895 and 1897, were chosen as study objects. It presents a panorama of the Brazilian illustrated periodic publishing at the second half of the 19th Century, the available graphic technology, and the different means that it has been used by the main graphic producers at the time: Henrique Fleiuss, Ângelo Agostini and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro. It also investigates Julião Machado’s biography, his main projects, partnerships and his unique production of images. The thesis studies the background and graphic design of the magazines A Cigarra and A Bruxa, understanding that they were a milestone transformation in the visual of publications and the construction and presentation of images. It presents the graphic project of magazine O Mercúrio, a period of time when Julião Machado was the master of Raul Paderneira, Calixto Cordeiro and Arthur Lucas, leaving his legacy for outstanding graphic designers of the beginning of the 20th Century.