The Rhinoceros
Original title: The Rhinoceros
kurzbeschreibung
Albrecht Dürer's 1515 woodcut "Das Nashorn" shows an Indian rhinoceros in profile. The artist based it on a description and a drawing of a live specimen in Lisbon. The print is one of the most famous works of graphic art.
Description
The animal appears from the side, its head turned to the left. Scale-like plates cover its back, and a pointed horn sits on its nose. The rhinoceros stands on a plain, mottled ground; above it runs a band of text with the inscription "RHINOCERUS" and the year "1515". The layout focuses entirely on the animal, leaving the surroundings bare.
Context
Dürer made the woodcut without ever having seen a rhinoceros himself. He relied on a description and a sketch by an unknown draughtsman. The live animal had arrived in Lisbon in 1515 as a gift for King Manuel I of Portugal and caused a great stir. Dürer combined the source with his own knowledge from nature studies, resulting in a partly invented but powerful view.
Impact
The detailed yet stylized rendering of the exotic animal immediately draws the eye to its armored form. Clear lines and the monumental pose give the rhinoceros a sculptural quality. For centuries, the print shaped the European image of the rhinoceros, even though it contains anatomical inaccuracies.
Technique
The design was carved in reverse into the woodblock, leaving the lines standing in relief to receive the ink. The resulting print renders the rhinoceros's plate-like scales and the prominent horn with precise hatching, while the letterpress text band above remains crisply legible.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)