The Rhinoceros

Albrecht Dürer

1515 · Woodcut · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Rhinoceros

Adam and Eve (Durer)

The Great Piece of Turf

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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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 exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. 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 16×24 in black. A white, warm grey or deep green wall; it pairs with Vitruvian Man.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Northern Renaissance painting
Era: 16th century (1515)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
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 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is The Rhinoceros in the public domain?

Yes. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Rhinoceros painted, and in what medium?

The Rhinoceros dates from 1515 and was made in woodcut; the original measures 21.3 × 29.5 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For The Rhinoceros we'd choose 16×24.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Albrecht Dürer's The Rhinoceros — the Rhinoceros — Dürer's armoured, scale-plated rhinoceros, drawn from a written description and a sketch of the animal that reached Lisbon in 1515 — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Dürer: The Northern Renaissance, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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