It sailed on the Nossa Senhora da Ajuda, which left Goa in January 1515. Albuquerque decided to forward the gift, known by its Gujarati name of ganda, and its Indian keeper, named Ocem, to King Manuel I of Portugal. The rhinoceros was already well accustomed to being kept in captivity. At that time, the rulers of different countries would occasionally send each other exotic animals to be kept in a menagerie. The mission returned without an agreement, but diplomatic gifts were exchanged, including the rhinoceros. In early 1514, Afonso de Albuquerque, governor of Portuguese India, sent ambassadors to Sultan Muzafar II, ruler of Cambay (modern Gujarat), to seek permission to build a fort on the island of Diu. On, an Indian rhinoceros arrived in Lisbon from the Far East. It has been said of Dürer's woodcut: "probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts". Eventually, it was supplanted by more realistic drawings and paintings, particularly those of Clara the rhinoceros, who toured Europe in the 1740s and 1750s. It was regarded by Westerners as a true representation of a rhinoceros into the late 18th century. Despite its anatomical inaccuracies, Dürer's woodcut became very popular in Europe and was copied many times in the following three centuries.
DÜRER'S RHINOCEROS SKIN
None of these features are present in a real rhinoceros, although the Indian rhinoceros does have deep folds in its skin that can look like armor from a distance. He places a small twisted horn on its back, and gives it scaly legs and saw-like rear quarters. He depicts an animal with hard plates that cover its body like sheets of armour, with a gorget at the throat, a solid-looking breastplate, and rivets along the seams. My daughter Aidan, when I told her that story about her grandfather, announced that she did the same thing when she was copying a Dürer drawing.Dürer's woodcut is not an entirely accurate representation of a rhinoceros. It turns out that my father, Alar, 65 years ago or so, when in school was playing with a Dürer’s picture and did the same thing with the monogram. One of the interesting bits about this piece was in changing Dürer’s monogram from ‘AD’ to my ‘AT’. It did take a long time to finish this rhino, but it was a lot of fun to do and very satisfying to see progress. Once the main shape of the rhinoceros was draw, working on each smaller section and its pattern was meditative. However, when I worked on it and was trying to carefully copy what he did, it felt very similar to making a zentangle.
![dürer dürer](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ntEg31MEUlg/VKgQ3GMkeBI/AAAAAAAAELg/g0m-WZFnsJI/s1600/indian%2Brhino%2Bcompared%2Bto%2BDürer.jpg)
I’m pretty sure that being whimsical was not his intent when he drew this five hundred years ago in 1515, as that characteristic doesn’t seem to have been a usual description of artwork at the time. I chose Albrecht Dürer because I really like the animals that he has drawn like his hare, walrus and this rhinoceros.
![dürer dürer](https://arthistoryproject.com/site/assets/files/34042/the_rhinoceros-obelisk-art-history.jpg)
I recently completed a drawing that was a response to a Sketchbook Skool challenge to copy some artwork by an artist that I admired.