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 Research Centre considers Court civilisation in all its aspects: The study of these themes is allowed a flexible time frame because they often require tracing origins that strictly speaking, predate the modern period, as well as exploring more recent times. While focusing on Europe and its royal and princely courts, the geographical scope encourages comparative studies, expanding when necessary to other parts of the world. Faced with the dispersion of works and the paucity of comparative studies, the Palace of Versailles Research Centre is both a meeting place and an incentive for further research. The Versailles Research Centre aspires to be multidisciplinary