Clara the Rhinoceros

By Gijs van der Ham

A visual history of the 18th-century rhinoceros and her unusual life as cultural icon and captive creature

In 1741 a ship arrived in the Netherlands carrying a miraculous animal that few people in Europe had seen before: a young female rhinoceros from India named Clara. For 17 years, Clara traveled with her owner Douwe Mout through almost every country in Europe. Wherever she appeared, she made a sensation, becoming the most famous rhino in European history. Artists such as Jan Wandelaar, Johann Elias Ridinger, Petrus Camper, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and Pietro Longhi immortalized her in paintings, drawings, sculptures and medals; she even influenced fashion; and she permanently corrected the false image of a rhinoceros perpetuated by D rer in his famous 1515 engraving.
Based on new research, Gijs van der Ham, a former senior curator at the Rijksmuseum, reconstructs her life, travels and captivity, and unravels her influence on the iconography and knowledge of rhinoceroses.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9462087474
• ISBN13: 9789462087477
• Release Date: January 2023
• Publisher: Nai010 Publishers
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.3"