Clara the rhino

 

 

Clara the Rhinoceros
Clara was strange and new, huge and awe-inspiring – she was utterly unlike any other known animal. From 30 September 2022, the Rijksmuseum presents Clara the Rhinoceros, an exhibition about an animal who travelled far from her native land of India and became the most famous rhinoceros in the world. The exhibition shows how new knowledge changed perceptions of the rhinoceros, and how art played its part in this process. 
The 60 objects on display include paintings, drawings, medals, statues, books, clocks and a goblet. Very few of these artworks have been displayed before in the Netherlands, and never before have so many exceptional objects devoted to Clara the rhinoceros being presented together.

Imagine, you’re living in 18th-century Europe, and the only animals you know about our cats, cows, sheep and horses. Then you suddenly hear that a rhinoceros is going to be on show at the annual fair in your town! Everywhere this news was heard, it caused a sensation.