Mastodawn

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #AnimalStudies #emdiplomacy #diplomacy #diplomat #History #histodons #pet

We have to admit that a giraffe is not exactly a common pet - but who knows...

Whether you are a diplomat or not, we would love to see pictures of our pet(s)! (4/4)

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #diplomacy #emdiplomacy #AnimalStudies #ArtHistory #history #histodons

Did you spot the giraffe in the painting?

In fact, Giorgio Riello argues that “it was not Lorenzo’s real animal but its representation in Ghirlandaio’s fresco that kept the visual imagination of giraffes alive in Europe”.

This points us to another topic for another day: the visual representation of early modern diplomacy.

https://mhistories.hypotheses.org/?p=1788. (3/4)

Spot the Giraffe: The Material Culture of Animals Found, Lost and Painted

English AbstractPDF The distracted tourist might be forgiven for not paying much attention to what is represented in The Adoration of the Magi, one of more than twenty large-scale frescos decorating the Tornabuoni Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The famous Italian painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop worked tirelessly between […]

Materialized Histories

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #AnimalStudies #ArtHistory #Renaissance #RenaissanceStudies #emdiplomacy #diplomacy #history #histodons

But the afterlife of the giraffe was much longer. It had been the first giraffe in Europe since the 13th century and it remained so for many centuries coming. Thus, one should not wonder that it was commemorated in literature and paintings, such as the painting by Giorgio Vasari (1556/1558).
But there are many other figurative representations of this giraffe, such as the famous frescos in the Tornabuoni Chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1485-1490). (2/4)

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #AnimalStudies #diplomacy #earlyModern #history #histodons #emdiplomacy #Medici #Florence #Egypt #ambassador

We want to follow up last week’s thread on diplomatic gift-giving with a very impressive example: the fate of a giraffe

In 1487, Lorenzo de Medici received the giraffe as a gift by Sultan Qā’itbāy of Egypt who thereby showed his support in Lorenzo’s fight against the Ottomans.

The animal was presented to the Florentine republic by the Egyptian ambassadors at the market place so that everyone could marvel the giraffe. Unfortunately, it died only a few months after its arrival breaking its neck while being transported in its box. (1/4)

Early Modern Diplomacy Oct 12, 2025

But what do you do with all these exquisite gifts, when they are not for personal use?

They are registered and kept in official collection.

The German government and the government of the German federal states occasionally auction them off as part of a raffle.

Perhaps you want to take a look into the latest auction catalogue from North Rhine-Westphalia:

https://www.landtag.nrw.de/files/live/sites/landtag-r20/files/Internet/II.A.3/Informationen/2024/09/Landtag%20Parlamentsnacht%202024%20Auktionskatalog%20DIN%20A5%20scr.pdf (6/6)

#emdiplomacy #diplomacy #HistoryOfDiplomacy #CulturalHistory #earlyModern #history #histodons #NordRheinWestfalen

Early Modern Diplomacy Oct 12, 2025

Gift giving is not only key to early modern #diplomacy, but to modern, too.

Head of states frequently exchange presents, but these were of course not for themselves as individuals.

Moreover, the importation of state gifts is even regulated by customs law. The German customs authority summarizes the applicable provisions on its website (in German):

https://www.zoll.de/DE/Fachthemen/Zoelle/Zollbefreiungen/Aussertarifliche-Zollbefreiung/Staatsgeschenke/staatsgeschenke_node.html (5/6)

#HistoryOfDiplomacy #CulturalHistory #diplomacy #emdiplomacy #earlyModern #history #histodons

Staatsgeschenke

Early Modern Diplomacy Oct 12, 2025

A special kind of gifts were animals, especially exotic animals were very popular, such as expensive horses, elephants, rhinos, leopards, giraffes etc.

But animals were risky presents, as they had of course a mind of their own. How did it look like, if a gifted horse threw off his new owner? (4/6)

#HistoryofDiplomacy #AnimalStudies #history #histodons #earlyModern #CulturalHistory #emdiplomacy #diplomacy