RINO MEMORY DAY

Just 500 years ago, on 27th January of 1516 the famous Indian rhinoceros described by Albrecht Dürer died. Dürer’s famous woodcut was based on a written description and sketch by Valentim Fernandes, a Moravian printer and book editor, who saw the rhinoceros in the last summer in Lisbon at the Ribeira Palace, when it was fighting with an elephant.  The owner of the animal, King Manuel of Portugal decided to present the rhinoceros as a gift to Pope Leo X. The King wanted the papal grants of exclusive possession to the new lands that his naval forces had been exploring in the Far East. The rhinoceros embarked in December 1515 for the voyage to Rome. The vessel stopped in Marseille on 24th of January in order to show the animal to King Francis I of France. After resuming its journey, the ship was wrecked in a storm as it passed through the narrows of Porto Venere on the coast of Liguria. The rhinoceros, chained and shackled to the deck, was unable to swim to safety and drowned. The carcass of the rhinoceros was recovered and its hide was returned to Lisbon, where it was stuffed. Some reports say that the mounted skin was sent to Rome in any case. 
On 27 of January there will be a Rinoceros Memory Day in Utisz Gallery. The lecture starts at 6 pm. Address: Budapest Honvéd utca 3. 4th floor. Entrance is free for all readers of Utisz Blog.