The Rhinoceros
The Rhinoceros

Currently not on view

The Rhinoceros,

1515

Albrecht Dürer, 1471–1528; born and died Nuremberg, Germany; active Venice, Italy, and Nuremburg
2010-149
Until the first rhinoceros arrived in Japan in 1921, scholars constructed their conceptions of the animal and its appearance solely based on textual and visual descriptions found in Chinese and Dutch sources. One image that circulated widely around the world was Dürer’s print of a rhinoceros. Dürer based his woodcut on a written description of an Indian rhinoceros that had been sent to Pope Leo X by King Manuel I of Portugal. Dürer’s image was then reprinted in Johann Jonston’s Historiae naturalis de quadrupedibus libri (Natural History of Four-Footed Animals), which was published in Amsterdam in 1657.

Information

Title
The Rhinoceros
Dates

1515

Maker
Albrecht Dürer
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
block (sheet trimmed to block): 21 × 29.8 cm (8 1/4 × 11 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Charles A. Ryskamp
Object Number
2010-149
Place Made

Europe, Germany, Nuremburg

Inscription
Date, title, and monogram in block, upper right corner: 1515 / RHINOCERVS / AD
Reference Numbers
Bartsch 136; Dodgson 125; Hollstein 273; Meder 2; Schoch 2
Culture
German, European
Type
woodcuts, prints
Materials
printing ink
Techniques
woodcut (process)
Subject
rhinoceros

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