In Visão do Paraíso, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda compares the Portuguese forma mentis with the Spanish s, during the time of the discovery and colonisation of the New World. These formae mentis can be related to the distinct modes of belief and the different kinds of rationalism that distinguished the various expressions of the Renaissance self. Both the Portuguese and the Spanish, in their early contact with the new lands, believed they would find the Earthly Paradise described in the classic and medieval texts. The Portuguese, who were more plastic and realistic, removed the fantastic and supernatural traits from the myth. The Spanish, on the other hand, not only kept but also intensified these traits. The dissertation s main discussion is about the idea that the differences and the similarities between the Portuguese and the Spanish s formae mentis are related with the ambiguity present in the archaic and modern traits that characterize Renaissance culture.