Zee-olifant met oren van bladeren 1580 - 1610

"Zee-olifant met oren van bladeren" (Sea Elephant with Ears of Leaves), a 16th-century print by Giovanni Andrea Maglioli, depicts a fantastical creature that blends elements of an elephant with a sea serpent. This small-scale engraving, housed in the Rijksmuseum, showcases the artist's meticulous detail in rendering the intricate textures of the creature's skin and the swirling patterns of the water. Maglioli's work demonstrates the popular fascination with mythical creatures during the Renaissance, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blurred in art.