|
|
Why the
rhinoceros?
... is certainly the
question we get asked most often. The animal that decorates our bottles
catches people’s attention. Quite frankly there is no real connection
between this animal and LA SPINETTA. There remains the unspectacular truth
of Giorgio Rivetti always having had great admiration of this celebrated
drawing and woodcut by the German artist Albrecht Dürer.
Although there is no rhino story of LA SPINETTA, there certainly is a great
story behind this particular rhino, which perhaps is one of the reasons why
Giorgio fell in love with this artwork.
The drawing records the arrival of an Indian rhinoceros in Lisbon, Portugal
in 1515. It was the first animal of its kind to be seen in Europe. As a gift
by the governor of Portuguese India to the king of Portugal, it was arranged
that the rhino fought an elephant. The elephant apparently turned and fled.
A description of the rhino soon reached Germany, presumably with sketches,
from which Dürer prepared this drawing and woodcut without ever having seen
the actual animal.
So convincing was Dürer’s fanciful creation that for the next 300 years
European illustrators borrowed from his work, even after they had seen
living rhinos without plates and scales.
For our
first Barolo Campè, we also chose a pencil drawing by Dürer, the lion. As
Barolo is generally known as the king of Italian reds, we thought that the king of
all animals was a fitting match.
|
