@acquadiartem

Las week I discovered the story of 'Clara'. She was an Indian rhinoceros who traveled all over Europe in the eighteenth century. Meeting kings, queens and popes alike. For the majority, she was the first animal of this kind that they had ever seen. I can only imagine the magic thrill of meeting her, when at the time information was so scarce and distorted, there was no way for common people to know about the existence of rhinoceros. Here we see her in one of her trips to Venice, year 1751. Painted by Pietro Longhi. Ps: obvs I don’t condone treating animals as toys for the entertainment of humans, just found the story fascinating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #rinocerontes#rhinoceros#venice#venezia#artdetail#18thcentury#18thcenturyfashion#18thcenturyart#menagerie#artdetails#arthistory#history#historian#europeanhistory#historylovers#historyfacts#periodfashion