ID: 700008537 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008537	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Rhinoceros (drawing (visual work); Drawn by: Albrecht Dürer; 1515;)

Note: Rhinoceros in profile to left This is Dürer’s preparatory study for his famous woodcut of a rhinoceros of 1515. Dürer's image shows the first rhinoceros to reach Europe alive since the third century AD, and although much of its appearance is fanciful, it is thought to represent a species of Indian rhinoceros. It must have been the subject of great interest when it arrived in Portugal. The rhinoceros had been presented by the ruler of Gujarat, Sultan Muzafar II to the governor of Portuguese India, Alfonso d’Albuquerque, who sent it on to King Manuel I in Lisbon, where it arrived on 20 May 1515.

Titles:

Rhinoceros (preferred,C,U,DE,English-P,U,U)

Drawing (C,U,RP,English,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

drawing (visual work) [300033973] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

drawings (preferred)

Creation Date: 1515

Creator Display:

Drawn by: Albrecht Dürer [preferred,VP]

draftsman Dürer, Albrecht (German printmaker and painter, 1471-1528) [500115493]

Locations:

British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500125180] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: SL,5218.161; Additional IDs C,07.161

Display Materials: drawn on paper

	drawing (image-making) [300054196]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <drawing and drawing techniques>)

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

Dimensions: 274 x 420 mm

Cultures:

German (preferred)

General Subject:

animals (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	rhinoceros [300250315]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Chordata (phylum), Vertebrata (subphylum), Mammalia (class), Perissodactyla (order)) (AAT)

Provenance: Bequeathed by: Sir Hans Sloane biography Previous owner/ex-collection: Pieter Spiering van Silvercroon biography Acquisition date 1753

Inscriptions: Inscribed by the artist in brown ink along the upper edge, “RHINOCERON 1515” and along the lower edge with a note probably transcribed from a newsletter: “Ite[m] in 153 jor adi i maÿ hat man unserm küng van portigall gen lisabona procht ein sold lebedig tir aws India das nent man Rhynocerate das hab ich dir von Wunders wegen müssen abkunterfet schicken hat ein farb wÿ ein / krot vnd van dicken schaln überleg fast fest vnd ist in d[e]r gros als ein helffant aber nÿdrer vnd ist des helfantz tott feint es hat for[n] awff der nasen ein starck scharff hore[n] und so dz tir an helfant Kumt mit jm zw fechten so hat es for albeg sein / hore[n] an den steinen scharbff gewestzt vnd lauff dem helfant mit dem Kopff zwischen dy fordere[n] pein dan reist es den helfant awff wo er am düsten hawt hat vnd erwürgt jn also der helfant fürcht jn ser übell den Rhÿnocerate dan er erwürgt jn albeg wo er den helfant aukumt dan er ist woll gewapent vnd ser freidig und behent D[a]z tir würt Rhinocero in greco et latino Indico vero gomda“ Translation: “In the year 15[1]3 [this should read 1515] on 1 May was brought to our King of Portugal in Lisbon such a living animal from India called a Rhinocerate. Because it is such a marvel I considered that I must send this representation. It has the colour of a toad and is covered all over with thick scales, and in size it is as large as an elephant, but lower, and is the deadly enemy of the elephant. It has on the front of the nose a strong sharp horn: and when this animal comes near the elephant to fight it always first whets its horn on the stones and runs at the elephant with his head between its forelegs. Then it rips the elephant where its skin is thinnest and then gores it. The elephant is greatly afraid of the Rhinocerate; for he always gores it whenever he meets an elephant. For he is well armed, very lively and alert. The animal is called rhinocero in Greek and Latin but in India, gomda” Inscribed on the verso, in the lower left-hand corner, by a later hand in brown ink, “rhinoceros”.

Related Works:

	study for .... Rhinocerus (Rhinoceros) [700008536]
	..........print (visual work); Print made by: Albrecht Dürer; 1515; British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United King...; 1895,0122.714;

	study for .... Rhinocerus (Rhinoceros) [700009025]
	..........print (visual work); Albrecht Dürer (German printmaker and painter, 1471-1528); 1515;

	study for .... The Rhinoceros [700009095]
	..........print (visual work); Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471–1528 Nuremberg); 1515; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, New York state, U...; 19.73.159;

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
Rhinoceros	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Drawing	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... British Museum [online] (1999-)