Der Elefant Hanno, um 1516

The drawing depicts an Indian elephant in profile, accompanied by two keepers: one mounted on its back holding a mahout's hook and another standing beside its trunk. Fine cross-hatched lines define the texture of the animal's hide, while several handwritten notations and scale marks suggest the artist's interest in recording accurate proportions.

Hanno was a centerpiece of the Vatican's 'court of wonders,' symbolizing the expanding horizons of the Renaissance world and the Pope's temporal power. In the natural philosophy of the era, elephants were regarded as the most intelligent of beasts, often cited in bestiaries and Neoplatonic thought as symbols of memory, temperance, and religious piety.