Dürer’s Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German artist Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Dürer never saw the actual rhinoceros, which was the first living example seen in Europe since Roman times. . . . It was regarded as a true representation of a rhinoceros into the late 18th century, and it has been said of Dürer’s woodcut that “probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts”.
From Wikipedia:
Dürer’s Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German artist Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Dürer never saw the actual rhinoceros, which was the first living example seen in Europe since Roman times. . . . It was regarded as a true representation of a rhinoceros into the late 18th century, and it has been said of Dürer’s woodcut that “probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts”.