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A black chalk drawing by Rembrandt, most likely from 1641, at the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 1, 2021. An exhibition in Amsterdam explores the wandering life and untimely death of Hansken, an Asian elephant who became a spectacle in 17th-century Europe. Julia Gunther/The New York Times.
by Nina Siegal
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- In Rembrandts 1638 etching Adam and Eve in Paradise, there are two symbols of good and evil. A dragon hovers over the couple as they contemplate the forbidden apple, representing the danger of temptation. And in the background, a little, rotund elephant romps in the sunlight, a sign of chastity and grace. The meaning of these symbols, while obscure today, would have been recognizable in 17th-century Europe. The dragon Rembrandt drew was a figment of his imagination. But the elephant looks surprisingly true to life. How did Rembrandt, who never traveled outside the Netherlands, know what an ele