The rhinoceros (fl.1770–1793) of King Louis XV and its horns

Abstract

While receiving remarkable animals as presents was a common practice among European monarchs, the rhinoceros of Louis XV (Rhinoceros unicornis) became one of the most famous. The live male Indian rhinoceros was a gift to the King from Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, French governor of Chandannagar in West Bengal. It left Calcutta on 22 December 1769, and arrived in the port of Lorient, Brittany, six months later on 11 June 1770. From there it was transported to the royal menagerie in Versailles, which had been built in response to increasing interest in zoology and Louis XIV's passion for the exotic, in 1664. When the rhinoceros died in 1793, having been in captivity in France for more than 20 years, its skeleton and stuffed hide were preserved and have been held since then in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Here it remains on exhibition as an almost three-hundred year old relic of R. unicornis, an invaluable source for museum studies and the history of taxidermy. Why the original horn of this rhinoceros was replaced by a much longer one, and why, in turn, this was replaced by a short one is discussed.

Killing for museums: European bison as a museum exhibit

“…43 In the process of ZM IAS's quest to obtain a European bison, St. Petersburg officials made a number of unwelcome interventions that created many obstacles, but also left an 39 Samojlik, Daszkiewicz, & Fedotova, 2017. 40 Pequignot, 2013;Lagueux, 2003. 41 Roger, 1989;Slepkova, 2013.…”