Clara the rhinoceros was an absolute superstar in the 18th century. Unfamiliar and impressively large, this strange looking animal inspired awe in everyone who saw her. For 17 years she and her Dutch owner toured Europe, visiting royal courts, markets, fairs and carnivals. From Vienna to Paris and from Naples to Copenhagen, royalty, farmers, townsfolk and artists would all come out to admire her, and to capture her likeness.
The Rijksmuseum has added to its collection a rare 18th-century terracotta statue of Clara. This exceptional 50-centimetre-tall work, attributed to the Dutch scientist and artist Petrus Camper (Leiden, 1722 – The Hague, 1789), captures the rhinoceros in accurate, naturalistic style. Until now, the only works in the Rijksmuseum collection featuring Clara were drawings. This acquisition at TEFAF was made possible by the support of the Johan Huizinga Fondsvia the Rijksmuseum Fonds, and a private donor.
Clara was not the first rhinoceros in Europe, but she did become the most famous of her kind. She arrived in Amsterdam, far away from her birthplace in India, in 1741. Her owner Douwe Mout van der Meer was soon showing her off to anyone able to pay for the experience. For around 17 years they crisscrossed Europe, with Clara travelling in a specially designed wagon. Throughout this time, Clara was totally dependent on people and was almost never able to behave in a natural way. She died in London in 1758.
Clara attracted a sensational level of interest because no one had ever seen a real rhinoceros before. People would touch, tease, admire and study her. The only image of a rhinoceros that Europeans had previously seen was a print made in 1515 by the renowned artist Albrecht Dürer. This drawing was not entirely accurate, however – it showed the rhinoceros with an additional horn on its back, for example.
Everything changed when Clara appeared on the scene. Her presence led to a better understanding of the rhinoceros and to more accurate portrayals. Scholars studied her in minute detail, from head to tail, and artists were fascinated by every fold of her skin. Clara appeared in a remarkable number of depictions, in all sorts of materials and forms. The terracotta figure purchased by the Rijksmuseum is one of the finest portrayals of Clara.
Main Image: Clara, Petrus Camper, 1742-1745
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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