The “Versailles rhinoceros’” was a gift from the French governor of West Bengal to Louis XV. It was set on board ship in December 1769 and arrived in Versailles in September 1770. The cost of its transportation was equivalent to more than four years’ salary for a ship’s captain, and in Versailles it amazed and astonished aristocracy and privileged spectators. When the Tuileries Palace was stormed in 1792 and the monarchy fell, the menagerie in Versailles was destroyed as a symbol of royal tyranny. The rhino survived for another year.
Amandine Pe´quignot. 2013.The rhinoceros (fl. 1770–1793) of King Louis XV and its horns. Archives of natural history 40.2. p. 213–227. http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/138/1381294520.pdf
Wallpaper from Marie Antionette’s bedroom chamber Versailles and reimagined on the right with images from the revolution and the Versailles rhino.