might know better, because "they knew that only these conventionalized graphic signs could denote «rhinoceros» to the person interpreting the iconic sign." He also notes that the skin of a rhinoceros is rougher than it visually appears and that such plates and scales portray this non-visual information to a degree. Until the late 1930s, Dürer's image appeared in school textbooks in Germany as a faithful image of the rhinoceros; and it remains a powerful artistic influence. It was one of the inspirations for Salvador Dalí; a reproduction of the woodcut hung in his childhood home and he used the image in several of his works. Sale history Although very popular, few prints have survived and impressions of the first edition are rare. A fine example was sold at Christie's New York in 2013 for $866,500, setting a new auction record for the artist. References Notes Citations Sources Alperson, Philip. The Philosophy of the Visual Arts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Bedini, Silvano. The Pope's Elephant. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1997. Clarke, T. H. The Rhinoceros from Dürer to Stubbs: 1515–1799. London: Sotheby's Publications, 1986. Cole, F. J.; Francis Joseph. "The History of Albrecht Durer's Rhinoceros in Zoological Literature". In Underwood, Ashworth (ed.). Science, Medicine and History: Essays on the Evolution of Scientific Thought and Medical Practice, Written in Honour of Charles Singer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953. Feiman, Jesse. "The Matrix and the Meaning in Dürer's Rhinoceros". Art in Print, volume 2, no. 4, November - December 2012. Goldman, Paul. Master Prints: Close-Up. London: British Museum, 2012. Quammen, David. The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder. Scribner, 2001 Further reading Burzyńska, Anna. Returns of the Rhinoceros. Frankfurt am Main: Tadeusz Kantor Today, 2014 External links BBC audio file A History of the World in 100 Objects 1515 works 1516 Mammals in art Prints and drawings in the British Museum Rhinoceros Individual rhinoceroses Woodcuts 1515 in art Rhinoceroses in popular culture Animals as diplomatic gifts 16th-century prints