Durer's Rhinoceros. 16th-century artwork of a rhinoceros, produced by German artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) in 1515. It was based on an Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) that had been brought to Lisbon, Portugal, on 20 May 1515, but drowned in a shipwreck on the way to the Pope in Italy. The depiction includes several inaccuracies (such as the horn on its back and the scales on its legs), but was reproduced many times over the following centuries, including in 'Historiae Animalium' (1551-1558) by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner (1516-1565). This woodcut version of the artwork, published in Nuremberg in 1515, includes Durer's AD monogram (upper right).