Kop van een neushoorn 1737 - 1789

Curator: Immediately, I am struck by the starkness of the image. There's a vulnerable quality despite the obvious power of the subject. Editor: Indeed. Here we have Petrus Camper's "Head of a Rhinoceros," rendered sometime between 1737 and 1789. It's an engraving, so primarily line work on what appears to be aged paper. Curator: Aged paper perfectly describes it. Look at the tones that create the form! The use of line to define shape, shadow. It's incredibly skillful. You can almost feel the texture of the rhino's hide. I love how the second horn sits behind the main horn. I had no idea that they had this detail in real life. Editor: Camper's dedication to realism is evident, and also consider this piece existing at a time when encounters with such exotic animals were rare, the rhinoceros likely appeared as a symbol of the sublime. The objective approach amplifies the inherent strangeness of its form. Curator: A real life mythical beast! It also shows this quest to document everything in the natural world, I'm guessing? Editor: Precisely! The Age of Enlightenment and the pursuit of empirical knowledge converge beautifully in this drawing. Notice the ruler. How curious is that. Why add that into this artwork? Curator: An attempt at objectivity maybe? Trying to be accurate and give you an idea of scale or how big a rhino's head might be, perhaps for a future illustration? Editor: Yes, it is a nod to scientific accuracy, grounding the almost fantastical nature of the animal in empirical observation. Even without any shading or colour, just in the stark linear structure that realism remains intact. But that being said, it also looks very stylised and ornate. Curator: A strange hybrid, the perfect intersection between realism, art, and objective fact, rendered exquisitely in ink. For me, it shows the skill and artistic flourish necessary to give realism soul. I also enjoy imagining who saw that artwork and what they made of it, centuries ago! Editor: Precisely; it is where meticulousness encounters the exotic, sparking both curiosity and aesthetic awe across the ages.