Ancient Europeans had never seen rhinoceros, and famous painters painted armored dinosaurs for people to see by imagination.

Despite years of unremitting pursuit, aliens are still an imaginary existence for human beings, invisible and intangible.

What really makes people feel is all kinds of animals in nature, whether it is domestic cats and dogs or lions and tigers in zoos, we can easily get in touch with them.

So, how did the ancients describe animals? In this book Fierce Animals: Strange Animals in the Printmaking Museum, we can see 10 1 a world classic animal print, which systematically interprets the historical evolution of animal images in the past 600 years.

The author of this book is Remy Matisse, the archivist of ancient Chinese characters in the National Library of France, and Valerie Sueur-Emel, the head of the printmaking and photographic image department of the National Library of France, both of whom are experts in the field of printmaking. The print and photographic image department of the National Library of France is known as the "world-class print museum", with a collection of150,000 pieces. The animal prints in the book 10 1 Diu Lei, Picasso, Bruegel, Delacroix, Breckmond, Manet and Guangzong Gechuan were carefully selected by the print research team of this French heavyweight cultural institution!

What is the relationship between animals and humans? Michel Pastout, a famous French historian, believes that animals are a treasure house, which constantly provides symbols and imagination for human beings. These prints in the book carefully interpret the stories behind them from the perspectives of historical background, literary stories and artistic aesthetics.

For example, the print Rhinoceros, created by German painter, printmaker and woodcut designer Al Brecht Diu Lei, contains a very profound historical background.

15 15, Sultan Kambe Mozafar II, the ruler of Gujarat, presented a rhinoceros to afonso de albuquerque, the governor of Portuguese Indian colony.

Affonso de Albuquerque is an important figure in the history of world navigation, known as "Caesar of the East", "Lion of the Sea" and "Portuguese God of War". He was born in Handra near Lisbon on 1453. Because his father is a distant illegitimate child of the Portuguese royal family, he can find a job in the court. Albuquerque also received court education and served as the chief attendant of King Joao II of Portugal. 1503, Albuquerque began his first expedition to the East. He bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in India. After helping King Cochin stabilize the regime, he was allowed to build a Portuguese fortress there, which was the foundation of the Portuguese Eastern Empire.

1504, Albuquerque returned to Portugal and was entertained by King Manuel I of Portugal. Two years later, he served as the commander of five warships, attacking the east coast of Africa. 1507, Albuquerque captured Brava, Sultanate of Ajulan, looted it, and then retreated to Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf. Although he failed to occupy it for a long time, he built a Portuguese castle on the island of Hormuz.

1508, Albuquerque arrived at the Malabar coast. Although Manuel I authorized him to replace the Governor Francisco de Almeida, the latter refused to recognize his power of attorney and put him in prison. It was not until the arrival of the Portuguese fleet three months later that he was released and became the governor of the Portuguese Indian colony.

15 10, Albuquerque failed to attack Kallikat, and on the way, he was incorporated into the famous pirate leader demosi in the Indian Ocean, persuading him to give up Kallikat and attack Goa instead, and achieved success; After the ruler of Bijabur Sultanate counterattacked Goa, Albuquerque paid a huge price and gained the actual control of Goa. 15 1 1 year, Albuquerque sailed from Goa to Malacca and conquered Malacca, the capital of Malaga Sultanate.

Gujarat is a Sultanate of ancient India. Facing Albuquerque's powerful influence, Sultan Kambe Mo zafar II presented a rhinoceros as a friendly gesture.

Albuquerque did not leave the rhinoceros, but gave it to Manuel I.

When the rhinoceros arrived in Lisbon, it caused a sensation, because Europeans had not seen rhinoceros since ancient Greece and Rome in the 3rd century.

Manuel I was a great king in Portuguese history. In addition to supporting Albuquerque's adventure in India, he also supported vasco da gama to bypass the Cape of Good Hope and reach India on 1498, Pedro lvares Cabral discovered Brazil on 1500, and Gaspar Colt, the real Colt family and Miguel Colt, on150/.

Manuel I didn't own rhinoceros for a long time, but gave it to Pope Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici as a gift. Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici is not an idle person. His name is Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, the son of Lorenzo de Medici and clarice orsini, the actual rulers of Florence. He became the archbishop at the age of 8. /kloc-At the age of 0/4, his sister married the son of Pope pope innocent viii, and he was promoted to a cardinal. At the age of 38, he was elected Pope. However, Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici failed to see the live rhinoceros, and the rhinoceros locked in the bilge was killed because it was shipwrecked during transportation.

There are no rhinos in Diu Lei, which may be thanks to Valentin Ferdinand, a printer who lives in Lisbon. Inspired by his narrative, Diu Lei created a painting for the rhinoceros without seeing it, first hand-painted and then carved.

At that time, not many Europeans had seen rhinoceros. In the next few hundred years, this print by Diu Lei became the default version copied by Europeans.

Looking back today, we can see that the rhinoceros painted by Diu Lei by imagination is actually more like an armored dinosaur.

Open Beast: Strange Beasts in the Printmaking Museum, and you will find that each animal is a combination of the artist's bold imagination and superb printmaking skills, which can not only understand the development history of western printmaking, but also provide rich information about the natural history and symbolic history related to the animals painted, which is very remarkable.