Question

How did Dürer manage to paint a live animal (6+)

a) He used a taxidermied animal as a reference
b) He studied the animal extensively in its habitat
c) He used a combination of sketches and memory
d) He observed the animal's movements and behavior closely

Answer 1

Albrecht Dürer created his rendition of a rhinoceros based on a written description and a brief sketch done by another artist because he had never seen the animal himself. The resulting woodcut is not anatomically accurate, reflecting the combination of secondhand information and the artist's imagination.

Step-by-step explanation:

Albrecht Dürer, the Renaissance master artist, did not paint a live rhinoceros because he never saw the animal in person. Instead, Dürer's famous woodcut of a rhinoceros was based on a written description and a brief sketch by another artist, which itself was made based on the Indian rhinoceros sent to Lisbon in 1515. Sadly, the animal died in a shipwreck before it could be seen by more people in Europe. Dürer's portrayal is not an anatomically accurate representation of the rhinoceros, but rather a combination of observation of the sketch, the description, and his own imagination. This process demonstrates how artists in Dürer's time had to rely on secondhand information and their own skills to depict animals they had never seen, such as using various studies and memory to recreate the rhinoceros.