From 1515 to the Blockchain: British Museum Taps Bitcoin Blockchain to Bring Dürer’s Rhinoceros into the Digital Age

Historic Rhinoceros Artwork Immortalised in Silver and Blockchain

A 16th-century masterpiece has found new life through a collaboration between Asprey Studio and the British Museum, where Albrecht Dürer’s famed 1515 “Rhinoceros” has been reinterpreted as a limited set of handcrafted sterling silver sculptures, each with a unique presence on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Digital Provenance Anchored in Bitcoin Ordinals

Each of the 11 sculptures comes with a permanent digital counterpart—an inscription on the Bitcoin blockchain using the Ordinals protocol.

The digital entry is structured as a “parent/child” format, linking the creators (Asprey Studio and the British Museum) to the artwork’s identity.

This approach, according to Asprey Studio, acts as a “modern family tree of provenance,” securing the sculpture’s digital record permanently.

Ali Walker, Chief Creative Officer at Asprey Studio, explained,

“It’s inscribed in Ordinals, in [a] full block. It’s a parent/child inscription, so the parents are Asprey Studio and the British Museum, and the child is the actual work.”

Walker noted that buyers will receive the digital inscription before the physical piece, as each silver sculpture takes several months to produce.

One of Asprey’s completed “Rhinoceros” silver sculptures. “(Source: Asprey Studio)

Sculpting Dürer’s Vision in Over 90 Silver Components

Produced to order at Asprey Studio’s Kent-based workshop, each sculpture measures nearly 40cm in length and is made from more than 90 individual parts.

Due to the challenges of working with solid silver, the team began with a digital model, which was then divided into smaller pieces.

Asprey Studio sculpting their version of “Rhinoceros”. (Source: Asprey Studio)

These were meticulously crafted, polished, engraved, and assembled by hand—a process that only a handful of silversmiths in the UK are capable of completing.

The first rhinoceros took over eight months to finish.

Even with process improvements, subsequent pieces still require three to six months each.

Why Dürer’s 1515 Rhinoceros Still Captivates

Albrecht Dürer created his version of a rhinoceros in 1515 based solely on a written account from a Portuguese merchant.

Albrecht Dürer, a German Renaissance artist born in 1471, was a master of woodcuts and engravings who revolutionized printmaking and even corresponded with Leonardo da Vinci, becoming a key figure in bringing classical and Italian Renaissance ideas to Northern Europe.

The German Renaissance artist never saw the animal himself, but his interpretation—rendered in woodcut—became one of the most recognisable animal images in European history.

The original “Rhinoceros” artwork by Albrecht Dürer in 1515. (Source: The British Museum)

Olenka Horbatsch, curator at the British Museum, shared,

“Dürer’s Rhinoceros is a famous image that has been a part of the cultural imagination for centuries. It has inspired “countless versions, copies, and adaptations.”

Blockchain Meets Renaissance Craftsmanship

Asprey Studio’s reinterpretation bridges centuries-old craftsmanship with 21st-century technology.

The studio emphasises that while the digital inscription preserves the new sculpture, it does not convert Dürer’s original drawing into an NFT.

Walker clarified,

“Dürer’s drawing does not suddenly become an NFT just because it’s on the blockchain. We're creating a whole new interpretation of the piece, and the original Dürer drawing of ‘The Rhinoceros’ is actually owned by the museum.”

He added,

“Digital art is the thing, and it’s basically just preserving the piece on the blockchain so it will last forever.”

British Museum Expands Digital Reach Through Web3

The British Museum has been actively exploring blockchain and Web3 initiatives.

In 2021, it released a series of NFTs through a partnership with French company LaCollection.

In 2023, it joined metaverse platform The Sandbox to create immersive digital experiences.

British Museum

Roderick Buchanan, the museum’s commercial director, called the silver rhinoceros project “exciting and fascinating,” adding,

“It is exciting to see the work from the master craftspeople of Asprey Studio continue the tradition of interpreting the Rhinoceros in a new and truly innovative way.”

A Renaissance Artist Who Fought For His Rights

Dürer was one of the earliest artists to defend intellectual property, famously condemning those who reproduced his prints without permission.

He once warned,

“Not only will your goods be confiscated but your bodies also placed in mortal danger.”

Walker said,

“He was doing self portraits at a time when no one else was, he was doing wood block prints and he made money out of printing his own work. It kind of fits in with the whole digital inscription idea.”

The project not only revives a Renaissance icon in physical form, but also embeds its legacy into blockchain history—aligning past ingenuity with present technology.