Rhinoceros, Woodcut by Albrecht Durer Coffee Mug

Rhinoceros by Albrecht Durer, woodcut print on paper 1515, is a detailed representation of a large rhino in side view, one of Durer’s many detailed prints and drawings of animals. Part whimsical illustration, part painstaking zoological drawing, the odd looking animal resembles the Indian rhinoceros with its distinctive folds of skin and plate-like armor. Some details of the animal may appear to be odd or inaccurate to the modern viewer, but Durer may have drawn the animal not from life but from verbal descriptions or drawings by travelers. The print includes a letterpress inscription describing the animal at top, with the artist’s signature and date. Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528) was a German painter of the Northern Renaissance and also an engraver, printmaker, mathematician and theorist whose woodcut prints and theoretical treatises secured his reputation as one of the greatest artists of Europe. His many paintings, portraits, altarpieces, watercolors, and engravings were the first in the Northern Renaissance to use classical motifs from antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. The art of landscape painting began with his watercolors. Durer’s unparalleled skill in drawing and engraving as well as mastery of perspective allowed him rapid execution of a range of motifs which elicit universal admiration to this day.