A Study On Dürer’s Woodcut "Rhinoceros"

Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg in 1471 and was one of the important representatives of the German Renaissance.He devoted his entire life to contemplating the standard of beauty and exploring artistic creation.Dürer created a large body of work,including woodcuts,engravings,oil paintings,sketches,and theoretical writings.These works fully demonstrate Dürer’s exceptional talent and profound understanding of art.Among his various works,prints had the greatest influence."The Rhinoceros" is a woodcut print created by Dürer in 1515,featuring an Indian rhinoceros.Interestingly,some scholars believe that Dürer did not see the rhinoceros in person when creating this work,but instead relied on a rhinoceros sketch and his rich artistic imagination.Although Dürer’s depiction of the rhinoceros in this work is significantly different from the actual animal,and even "full of errors" by today’s standards,this exquisite work still had a tremendous impact.This paper takes this woodcut print,"The Rhinoceros," as its research object,using the methods of graphic analysis and re-engraving practice in imageology to study Dürer’s woodcut printing technique,and to explore his understanding of nature and science.