The French explorer François Levaillant (1753-1828) was mainly interested in the study of birds. He made two expeditions into the interior of South Africa in 1781 & 1784. After each trip he published a book, which was immensely popular with the general public.This watercolor of a black rhino was made for plate 101 in his book ‘Dessins de vues, de peuples, et d’animaux des voyages de Monsr. Le Vaillant en Afrique’.
This original watercolour is part of a collection of drawings associated with Levaillant’s African journeys, preserved in the Library of Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa. (Reproduced here by kind permission of the librarian).
