Clara's Grand Tour. Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe
From the fall of the Roman Empire until the early nineteenth century, only eight Indian rhinoceroses were seen in Europe, making them one of the rarest subjects for artists and writers, and a source of both status and wonder. In 1741, an enterprising Dutch sea captain transported a young female Indian rhinoceros from Assam to Europe where she was displayed before everyone from peasants to princes. Traveling the continent from 1741 to 1758, Clara was the longest-lived of any of the Indian rhino to be seen in early modern Europe. She modeled for scientific portraits, inspired poems and fashions, and was immortalized in everything from tin coins to the finest porcelain. This "perfectly turned-out book...offers an open invitation to watch, wonder and admire..." (The Scotsman).