Follower of Jean-Baptiste Oudry The Rhinoceros Clara, oil on canvas, 71 x 93 cm, framed Between 1741 and 1758, the rhinoceros named Clara depicted here in the present painting was a sensation in Europe (see G. Ridley, Claras Grand Tour, Die spektakuläre Reise mit einem Rhinozeros durch das Europa des 18. Jahrhunderts, Hamburg 2008). The Dutch ship captain Douwemout van der Meer had purchased it as a young animal in India and then travelled back to Europe by sea with the rhino in his company. The interest of Europeans to see this ‘fabulous animal’ was enormous. Rhino Clara had arrived in Europe in 1741, where it became extremely popular and famous and unleased a fashion of Rhinomania, as is attested to by the numerous commissions of works capturing the animal in porcelain or bronze, or on textiles (see K. von Berswordt-Wallrabe/C. B. Bailey, Oudrys gemalte Menagerie – Porträts von exotischen Tieren im Europa des 18. Jahrhunderts, exhibition catalogue, Munich/Berlin 2008, pp. 142-43). In 1749 the renowned animal painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry painted a portrait of Rhino Clara, which was acquired by the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1750 for his picture gallery in Schwerin (today Staatliches Museum, Schwerin). Before Oudry, depictions of rhinos had been embellished with fantastic, exotic, or mythic details and thus looked rather grotesque. Oudry’s method was different, as pointed out in the exhibition catalogue 2008 (see K. von Berswordt-Wallrabe/C. B. Bailey, Ibid., 2008): ‘In this context, Oudry’s direct observation of the rhinoceros, his meticulous and virtuoso representation of each individual aspect of its physical appearance, can be regarded as an approach according to the principles of the Enlightenment, as a compilation of scientific insights in order to refute confusing or erroneous notions of this Asian animal […]. Buffon, a proponent of the Enlightenment, wrote a detailed description of Clara for the second volume of his Histoire Naturelle (published in 1764). As an illustration he used an engraving by Jean-Charles Baquoy based on a painting by Jacques de Sève, which in turn relied on Oudry’s picture. Oudry’s artistic belief and the naturalists’ empiric claim ensured a more accurate understanding of the rhinoceros in Europe.’ Whether the present portrait of the rhinoceros is based on the engraving in Histoire Naturelle or on a different painted or engraved model could not yet be clarified.