India. The Dürer Rhinoceros begins its long journey to Lisbon. It is a real, live rhinoceros donated by the Sultan of Gujarat to the Portuguese in return for the gifts received from Alfonso of Albuquerque. No one in Europe has seen a rhinoceros for at least a thousand years. The Portuguese king decides to send the rhinoceros to the Pope, but the poor beast will never reach the Holy Father: the ship carrying it is hit by a storm off the coast of La Spezia and sinks. Rhinoceroses are excellent swimmers, but since this rhinoceros is chained to the deck of the ship, it sinks with it. An accurate depiction of it survives in a woodcut print by Albrecht Dürer.
