Medici giraffe
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The Medici giraffe was a giraffe presented to Lorenzo de Medici in 1486 possibly by al-Ashraf Kait-Bey, the Burji Mamluke sultan of Egypt, in an attempt to win the support of the Medici.
It caused a great stir on its arrival in Florence: although the Medici maintained a large menagerie, and had previously featured a giant mannequin of a giraffe in the animal entertainments they provided to the citizenry, this was the first time a living example had been seen in the city. It was also reputedly the first living giraffe to be seen in Italy since the days of Ancient Rome, although there are reports that Frederick III of Sicily had been given one in 1261 by the Sultan of Egypt in exchange for a white bear and that the Duke of Calabria, Duke Hercules I in Ferrara and the Ferrante, the rulers of Naples, all owned giraffes. The Medici giraffe was immortalised in paintings by Botticini, Vasari and Bacchiacca, frescos and poetry. The poet Antonio Costanzo described it freely roaming the streets:
| I have also seen it raise its head to those onlookers offering to it from their windows, because its head reaches as high as eleven feet, thus seeing it from afar the people think that they are looking at a tower rather than an animal. Ours appears to like the crowd, it is always peaceable and without fear, it even seems to watch with pleasure the people who come to look at it. |
The giraffe survived for a short time in the Medici menagerie at the family's villa at Poggio a Caiano, eventually dying after hitting its head on a beam and breaking its neck. A living giraffe was not seen in Europe again until Mehmet Ali Pasha sent three giraffes as gifts in 1827, one to George IV of the United Kingdom, one to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and one to Charles X of France. Each caused a stir, in London, Vienna and Paris respectively, but only the last, Zarafa, survived for more than two years.
[edit] References
- Erik Ringmar. Audience for a Giraffe: European Expansionism and the Quest for the Exotic. Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved on 19 October 2006.
