French architect Paul Planat used the expression harlequin jacket when analyzing, in 1890, works of eclecticism, qualifying them as pastiche of multiple references and associating their fragmentary character with the patchwork costume. In this book, the historian Heliana Angotti-Salgueiro inserts the in-depth study of the eclectic style in the analysis of the creation of Belo Horizonte, idealized to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of Minas Gerais and inaugurated in 1897. Based on extensive research, the author analyzes the articulation between ideas and forms, both local and global, present in the rationalist thought of engineer Aarão Reis, author of the plant, in the models of the École des Beaux-Arts of Paris taken up by the architect José de Magalhaes in his projects, and in the practices of masters of Italian works that built the city. Thus, it offers a reference work for everyone who seeks to understand 19th century architecture and urbanism.