The Rhinoceros
1515 · Woodcut · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)
- Year
- 1515
- Medium
- Woodcut
- Original size
- 21.3 × 29.5 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
A rhinoceros stands in profile on a strip of ground, its hide drawn as overlapping plates like a suit of armour, with scaly legs, a small extra horn on its back and riveted seams; above it are the date 1515, the word RHINOCERVS, Dürer's monogram and a block of German text. An Indian rhinoceros, a gift from the Sultan of Cambay in Gujarat, arrived in Lisbon on 20 May 1515, the first live one seen in Europe since Roman times. Dürer never saw it: he worked from a letter and a sketch sent from Lisbon to Nuremberg, which explains the invented details. King Manuel I sent the animal on as a gift to Pope Leo X, but it drowned when the ship sank off the Italian coast. The woodcut was printed in several editions and copied for three centuries; it was taken as an accurate picture of the animal into the late eighteenth century, and was still used in German school books until the 1930s. This impression is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
An armour-plated rhinoceros in crisp black woodcut lines on cream paper with old German lettering, for a study, home office or hallway at 24×18 in black. A white, warm grey or deep green wall; it pairs with Vitruvian Man.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (1515)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×18. Prints at 16×12, 24×18 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Rhinoceros in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Rhinoceros painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.





























