Wednesday 3 July 2024at 6.30 pm, in the spaces of Gonzaga7 a Milano (bia Gonzaga 7) the volume is presented Vip: Very Important Pet con Henry Hercules (author) e Alex Miozzi (writer). Free admission.
During the meeting some things are revealed secrets about the relationships that linked the great kings and queens of history to their loved ones petdogs and cats (and not only). The choice of location for the presentation is not at all casual: Gonzaga7 stands right where the 14th century Ca’ di Canthat is, the large building erected by the Viscontis and in whose courtyard the cattle were raised ferocious mastiffs with which Bernabò Visconti terrorized the citizens of Milan and to which an entire chapter of the book is dedicated.
From the Queen Victoriathe most dog-loving of all the sovereigns, who wanted a kennel for every castle, a Frederick II of Prussia, who left orders to be buried alongside his beloved greyhounds and the inseparable Biche; from the Princess Sissiwho loved to terrorize everyone with his powerful dogs, ai Pontiffs irreducible catsup to that anonymous dog who in ancient Nordic times was even crowned king in Denmark, or to the petulant pug who put the great Napoleon with bites on the calves, passing through Catherine of Russia, Ludovico Gonzaga, Re Sole, Charles I and Charles II of England (both literally obsessed with little dogs that still bear their name today, the King Charles Spaniel) and of course the Queen Elizabethwho made his corgis into real stars to whom documentaries and even a cartoon series were dedicated. And last but not least, Queen Camillawho had her two Jack Russells embroidered in gold on her dress for the coronation ceremony.
Extremely faithful dogs, companions until the extreme step, as in the case of Mary Stuartwho took his little dog with him to the scaffold, or like that poor little dog he shared with his masters, the very powerful Romanovtsar of all the Russias, the terrible fate of dying by firing squad with the imperial family and whose remains, which came to light almost a century later, made it possible to accurately reconstruct one of the great mysteries of history.
Not just puppy dogs and cats: there’s room for one too giraffe given to Charles X of France, who became famous as a diva, and for a large elephant starved to death in the halls of Versailles. In short, a journey into the folds of history to discover a very little-known aspect, but very useful for fully understanding the personality of characters that we too often know only for the historical significance of their actions. One way like any other to to nitpick history.
