Rhinoceros

Pietro Longhi (Italian, 1702-85)
Rhinoceros, 1751
Oil on canvas 23x19
Ca' Rezzonico (museum dedicated to 18th c. Venice)
Image: Wikipedia

A painting that caught someone's eye in my Rococo to Revolution. Longhi was known as a bit of a truth teller in his art. Nothing fancy, nothing unique, he just painted it like he saw it which at the time in Venice was Venetians at play. As a result his people don't always mesh, they appear more as placeholders. This particular painting is interesting due to the rhinoceros of course, which while seeming odd is actually a depiction of a real rhinoceros who found herself in Venice, brought to Europe in 1741. Clara, the rhinoceros even has her own wikipedia page!