Jean-Baptiste Oudry by Jean-Baptiste Oudry
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In the middle of the 18th century came to Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels
In 1741, a Dutch captain first shipped an Indian rhino to Western Europe, also to Belgium. She was Miss Clara, who later became the world's most famous rhinoceros, inspiring countless artists and scientists. Recently the Rijksmuseum is holding an exhibition for her.
In 1743, Brussels got excited and the city saw rhinos for the first time! A real rhinoceros!!! The news was obtained from an article by the Spanish scholar and cleric Benito Feijóo, who wrote: "I received a letter from Brussels that spoke of a rhino in the city and caused quite a stir, and the rhino probably spent a few weeks in Brussels before heading to the next city, which was a rhino named Miss Clara. ”
Rhinoceros (Clara and cart in enclosure) Venetian painter 1751
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How to get started
Like Bambi, Clara was very young when her mother was shot dead in northeast India. In 1738 Clara was given to the president of the Dutch East India Company, and for three years rhinos were allowed to roam freely around the East India Company site in Hogley (not far from Calcutta) and even enter and exit restaurants.
Three years later, the rhino grew too big, and Douwe Mout, captain of the Amsterdam East India Company, decided to take her to the Netherlands, and on July 22, 1741, the rhino arrived in the port of Rotterdam. Mout immediately resigned from the Dutch East India Company so that he could take Clara around the catwalk, and they frequently traveled to European open-air fairs. Clara never saw her kind again, and she spent most of her life in a wooden cart.
The emergence of rhinos has set off a "rhino tide" in Europe: countless artists and scientists have been inspired by the first – and last rhinoceros they saw in their lives.
Flemish sculptor Pieter-Antoon Verschaffelt probably made this statue "Rhinoceros (Clara)" 1760/1770 after seeing Clara in real life
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Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent
Clara and her host passed through Belgium at least twice. In 1743 they stopped in Antwerp and Brussels, and in 1752 in Ghent, for which both the "Antwerp Zeitung" and the "Ghent Zeitung" were advertised.
Gijs van der Ham, director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, said: "We know this, some paintings from that time have not survived, but they did cause a huge sensation, and previously there were only rhino exhibitions in England, Portugal and Spain. "
Rhinos had a hard time surviving their journey between India and Europe, so Clara's owner, Mout, succeeded, he profited from it, and was even promoted to nobility, and he used her to make money everywhere.
For 17 years, Clara has travelled between the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Mout built a special cart for the rhinoceros, pulled by eight horses, and she weighed more than 2,500 kilograms and was 3.6 meters long. Clara made appearances in fairgrounds and fairs, even kings and emperors wanted to see her, and she was also sought after by Maria Theresa of Austria and King Louis XV of France.
In some places, like Vienna or Paris, Clara stays for months, and wherever she goes, people look, touch and discuss her. In Paris, someone even made rhinoceros-style wigs and added symbolic horns to their hairstyles.
Rhino-style wig
Pietro Longhi "Rhino Clara" at the Venice Carnival 1751
Clara died in London on 14 April 1758, and she was also once brought to the British royal family for display. The first Indian rhino in Western Europe lived to be 21 years old, and for years to come, the rhino continued to inspire artists...
Rhino pendulum, gilt bronze, tortoiseshell by Pendule au rhinocéros, by François Viger, Paris, circa 1750
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