Durer's Rhinoceros

Durer's Rhinoceros

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things that time has left behind. This week he is exploring vigorous empires that flourished across the world 600 years ago - visiting the Inca in South America, Ming Dynasty China, and the Timurids in their capital at Samarkand and the Ottomans in Constantinople. Today he examines the fledgling empire of Portugal and describes what the European world was looking like at this time. His chosen object is one of the most enduring in art history, and one of the most duplicated - Albrecht Durer's famous print of an Indian rhino, an animal he never had never seen. The rhino was brought to Portugal in 1514 and Neil uses this classic image to examine European ambitions. Mark Pilgrim of Chester Zoo considers what it must have been like to transport such a beast and the historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto describes the potency of the image for Europeans of the age.

Producer: Anthony Denselow

Episoder(101)

Lothair Crystal

Lothair Crystal

This week, Neil MacGregor is exploring life in the great royal courts around the world during Europe's medieval period. It's easy to forget that the civilisations of Tang China, the Islamic Empire and...

16 Jun 201013min

Harem wall painting fragments

Harem wall painting fragments

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through objects at the British Museum. This week, he is exploring life and intrigue in the great courts of the world at the same time as the European medieval pe...

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Maya relief of royal blood-letting

Maya relief of royal blood-letting

The history of the world as told through objects. This week Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, is exploring power and intrigue in the great royal courts of the world around 800 AD. To...

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Silk princess painting

Silk princess painting

Throughout this week, Neil MacGregor has been exploring the world of the late 7th century, with objects from South America, Britain, Syria and Korea. Today's object is from the 4000 mile tangle of rou...

11 Jun 201014min

Korean roof tile

Korean roof tile

Korea: source of modern-day electronic components. Neil MacGregor delves into the history of a an artefact from the region.

10 Jun 201014min

Moche warrior pot

Moche warrior pot

The history of the world as told through one hundred objects arrives in 7th Century Peru. Throughout this week Neil MacGregor is exploring along the Silk Road and beyond, ranging from Korea to East An...

9 Jun 201014min

Sutton Hoo helmet

Sutton Hoo helmet

The history of the world as told through one hundred objects. This week Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum, is exploring the world in the 7th Century, at a time when the teachings of I...

8 Jun 201014min

Gold Coins of Abd al-Malik

Gold Coins of Abd al-Malik

The history of the world as told through one hundred of the objects that time has left behind. The objects are from the British Museum and tell the story of humanity over the past 2 million years. The...

7 Jun 201014min

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