The plaque hanging next to this piece at the Met reads:
Albrecht Dürer never saw the rhinoceros that arrived in Lisbon as a gift from Sultan Muzafa of Cambay to Emanuel I, king of Portugal, in May 1515. He made this woodcut after a drawing of the animal sent by a printer in Lisbon to a friend in Nuremberg. The Rhinoceros became one of the artist’s best-known prints; it served as a model for European artists representing this rare beast well into the eighteenth century and continues to inspire artists today.
TOE goes places so you don’t have to.
Related TOE posts:
- At the Met :: Albrecht Dürer – Melencolia I
- At the Met :: Max Ernst – Gala Éluard
- At the Met :: Auguste Rodin – Madame X
- At the Met :: Alberto Giacometti – Cat
- At the Met :: Vincent van Gogh – Shoes
Interesting how he makes the rhino’s skin look like armor.
