The Rhinoceros
Audio File length: 3.07
Author: STEFANO ZUFFI E DAVIDE TORTORELLA
Language: English / USA
The painting "Il rinoceronte" by Pietro Longhi, exhibited at the Museum of 18th-Century Venice in the Palazzo Ca' Rezzonico, portrays the rhinoceros Clara, famous for traveling through the major European capitals of the 18th century. Longhi, with an ironic tone, denounces the aristocratic decadence of the time through the evident indifference of the observers in front of the poor rhinoceros with its mutilated horn. In the stands, nobles wearing Venetian attire display indifferent expressions. A sign reminds of the commission by Giovanni Grimani, owner of a private zoo.
