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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD): Durer's Rhinoceros

Durer's Rhinoceros

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

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Neil MacGregor with Durer's extraordinary image of a rhino - an animal he had never seen.

This week Neil MacGregor is describing empires around the world 600 years ago. Today he tells the story of the fledgling empire of Portugal through Durer's famous image of a rhino.

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things that time has left behind. This week he is exploring vigorous empires that flourished across the world 600 years ago - visiting the Inca in South America, Ming Dynasty China, and the Timurids in their capital at Samarkand and the Ottomans in Constantinople. Today he examines the fledgling empire of Portugal and describes what the European world was looking like at this time. His chosen object is one of the most enduring in art history, and one of the most duplicated - Albrecht Durer's famous print of an Indian rhino, an animal he never had never seen. The rhino was brought to Portugal in 1514 and Neil uses this classic image to examine European ambitions. Mark Pilgrim of Chester Zoo considers what it must have been like to transport such a beast and the historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto describes the potency of the image for Europeans of the age.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Neil MacGregor explores the great empires of the world in the threshold of the modern era.

This week Neil MacGregor is exploring the great empires of the world around 1500 - from the Inca in South America to the Ming in China and the Timurids in the Middle East.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Durer's Rhinoceros

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