Thread by @RembrandtsRoom

Thread.
1. It is #WorldElephantDay. This made me think of Hansken, a world famous elephant and that not only because Rembrandt drew her several times. Even more amazing: her skeleton can still be seen today.

2. Hansken's life is extraordinarily well documented. She arrived in Amsterdam in 1633 as a gift to the Stadtholder. From the time she passed into the hands of several private owners she is documented wherever she went in Europe, she must have been an amazing sight.

3. In 1637 and 1641 she was in Amsterdam, probably to perform at the annual fair not far from Rembrandt's house on Breestraat. He drew her twice.

3. In 1638 Rembrandt also used her in the background of his Adam and Eve print.

4. In 1639 she was in Poland where she and her master were depicted on the facade of a house in Trzebiatów. The painting can still be seen today.

5. Herman Saftleven etched her in 1641. It shows Hansken twice; it's the most detailed depiction of her. She is very recognisable from the way her ears are marked.

6. Countless pamphlets were printed extolling Hansken and all the tricks she had learned to perform. This one dates from 1643.

7. Hansken was celebrated in poems, in art, and also on tiles: this Delft blue tile dates from 1645 and shows her performing one of her tricks: duelling with a sword.

8. On 7 October 1655 Hansken arrived in Florence where she was exhibited in the Loggia dei Lanzi. She died on 9 November. What the quality of her life was and how she was treated we do not know. We do know from records that she was made to drink alcohol and came to love it.

9. Hansken's cadaver was bought by the Grand Duke of Florence and transported on a wagon drawn by 8 pairs of oxen to the Boboli Gardens where the skeleton was prepared to be displayed in the Uffizi. Today her skeleton can still be seen in the natural history museum in Florence.