Recently I found myself in Ashville N.C. at the Biltmore...

Recently I found myself in Ashville N.C. at the Biltmore House.

The Vanderbilt Family had exquisite taste.

Though Henry James said they were loopy.

Which probably explains why they had very few writers or artists as friends.

Those damn artists always tell the truth.

One of the things that struck me was a print of a Rhino on the wall.

Well not really a Rhino, more like a space age Rhino.

When the guards weren’t looking - they have this control freak rule that you can use a camera inside the Biltmore - I snapped a shot of the beast and did some research when I got home.

It turns out that the print was by Albecht Durer.

He created it in 1515.

And here is rub…in his lifetime Durer never saw a Rhinoceros.

A friend had described it and Durer did the best he could to get it down.

I think you will agree he got very close.