Everything about The Medici Giraffe totally explained
The
Medici giraffe was a
giraffe presented to
Lorenzo de Medici in
1486 possibly by
al-Ashraf Qaitbay, 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. It didn't survive for long and another giraffe wasn't seen in Europe for almost 300 years.
History
In 46 BC
Julius Caesar had celebrated his triumphs in Egypt by returning to Rome with a vast menagerie, the star attraction of which was a giraffe, the first ever seen in Europe. The Romans didn't know what to make of such an animal and named it the cameleopard, for it seemed to them to embody characteristics of both the
camel and
leopard. Caesar had the animal torn to shreds by
lions in the
arena, probably to emphasise his power by the disposal of such a rare creature in a casual manner. Lorenzo had read of the success of the spectacle of Caesar's giraffe and saw a way to cement his reputation in
Florence by emulating it. He also realised that he could gain further political influence by passing the animal on and promised to send it to
Anne of France, after its sojurn in Florence.
Whether the giraffe was provided by Qaitbay is uncertain as there's no record of its procurement, but it seems likely: he's known to have had giraffes in his menagerie; he appealed for Lorenzo for help against the Ottomans around the time of the giraffe's arrival in Florence and Lorenzo did intercede on his behalf shortly afterwards.
The giraffe was an immediate sensation when it arrived in
Florence. Although
Cosimo de Medici, Lorenzo's grandfather, had maintained a large
menagerie, and had previously featured a giant
mannequin of a giraffe in the animal entertainments he provided for the citizenry, this was the first time a living example had been seen in the city. Although there are reports that
Frederick III of Sicily had been given a giraffe 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, if they'd existed they'd certainly not had the success that Lorenzo's giraffe enjoyed: it 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're looking at a tower rather than an animal. Ours appears to like the crowd, it's always peaceable and without fear, it even seems to watch with pleasure the people who come to look at it.
Although Anne had written reminding Lorenzo of his promise to send it to her, she was to be disappointed. Lorenzo had built special stables for it, either at the family's villa at
Poggio a Caiano or in the Via della Scala in Florence itself, with heating to protect it from the damp Florentine winters. Shortly after its arrival the giraffe broke its neck and died after its head became stuck in the beams of these stables.
A living giraffe wasn't 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.
Further Information
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