Rhinoceros of Versailles Rhinoceros of Versailles The Rhinoceros of Versailles was a living Indian rhinoceros which was kept in the Palace of Versailles menagerie from 1770 until 1793. The live rhinoceros was a gift from M. Chevalier, French governor of Chandernagor, to Louis XV. It left Calcutta, West Bengal on 22 December 1769, and arrived six months later in the seaport of Lorient, in Brittany on 11 June 1770. From there it was transported to the royal Ménagerie which had been built in response to increasing interest in zoology and Louis XIV's passion for the exotic, in 1664. The rhino was installed in
Palace of Versailles he revived 18th-century weaving techniques so as to reproduce the silks used in the decoration of Versailles. The two greatest achievements of this initiative are seen today in wall hangings used in the restoration of the "chambre de la reine" in the "grand appartement de reine" and the "chambre du roi" in the "appartement du roi". While the design used for the "chambre du roi" was, in fact, from the original design to decorate the "chambre de la reine", it nevertheless represents a great achievement in the ongoing restoration at Versailles. Additionally, this project, which took over seven years to