Gift from Portuguese king to the pope

(Excerpted from Selected Journalism
by HAJ Hulugalle)

We have heard of a Papal Bull. But a Papal Elephant’? What could that be? The Papal elephant about which I have some information, was without doubt a native of Ceylon; probably the first Ceylon or Indian elephant to arrive in Rome.

I lived for over five years not 200 yards from the Rome zoo. There are two elephants there, an Indian and an African in their respective pens, side by side. Next to the African elephant lives a rhinoceros almost as large as an elephant, separated by a metal fence. What always interested me about these animals was that the African elephant and the rhino would often be seen close to each other, as if they were exchanging confidences across the partition, whereas the two elephants, it seemed, were scarcely on speaking terms.

African elephants are, no doubt, more at home on European soil. Only a narrow stretch of the Mediterranean separates part of Italy from Africa, and they are entitled to feel a little superior. Hannibal took elephants from Carthage (Tunis) for his wars against the Romans, and crossed the Alps with them. African elephants performed in Roman circuses (panem et circenses).

The Roman sophist, Aelianus Claudius, who wrote treatises on animals in 17 books, says that Germanicus, nephew of the Emperor Tiberius, exhibited once a public show where there were many full-grown elephants, male and female. In those days it would not have been possible to take Ceylon or Indian elephants to Europe. Solomon’s ships came to India or Ceylon once in every three years, and took “gold and silver, ivory, apes and peacocks; but not elephants.

Many mediaeval scientists were busy working on the problems of navigation when Vasco da Gama crowned the hopes of a century by sailing from Lisbon to Calicut. After that, taking small elephants to Europe did not present insuperable problems.

When the first Portuguese arrived, the Sinhalese king at Kotte was informed by his agents that “there is in our harbour of Colombo a race of people, fair of skin and comely withal. They don jackets and hats of iron; rest not a moment in one place but walk here and there.” The Portuguese envoys summoned by the king were taken by a devious route. De Barros, the Portuguese historian who died in 1570, says that they “were conducted through such dense thickets that they could scarcely see the sun, taking so many turns that it seemed to them more like a labyrinth than a direct road to any place.”

It is an interesting fact that this statement is confirmed by the Sinhalese proverb ‘Parangia Kottetagiya Vage’ – like the Portuguese going to Kotte – used in connection with a long and circuitous path.

A letter in the Vatican archives describes the scene in the court of the Sinhalese king when the Portuguese ambassador Payo de Souza was received. The letter is from Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Julius 11. During Manuel’s reign of twenty five years, Portugal reached its highest pitch of prosperity. Julius H, a member of the delta Rovere family, was the masterful Pontiff who began building the new St. Peter’s, and who bullied Michaelangelo to produce masterpieces.

The king’s letter to the Pope which is dated the 25th September 1507, announces with enthusiasm the discovery of Ceylon. We know from the diary of the Venetian ambassador Marino Sanuto, that the Pope read the letter in consistory. He notes that the letter states that the Portuguese envoys “had spoken with the king who had on his head a crown of the most beautiful gems and, although it was day, there were hidden candles, so that the gems might be seen shining.” It seems to have been a practice of the Sinhalese kings to receive foreign envoys by candle light.

There were celebrations in Rome of the great event. After a solemn procession on St. Thomas’ day, Father Egidio de Viterbo prelate-general of the Augustine order delivered a lengthy oration, entirely in praise of Pope Julius to whom he ascribed not a little of the glory of the discovery of Ceylon.

Where does our elephant come into all this?

According to the Portuguese historian Correa, the Sinhalese king agreed to pay a yearly tribute of a shipload of cinnamon and two elephants to the king of Portugal for protecting the ports of Ceylon. The first installment was in fact paid before the ambassador left for Lisbon. The two small Ceylon elephants were part of the cargo of the first fleet which left Colombo for Lisbon.

Pope Julius II died in 1513 and was succeeded by Leo X, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent of the illustrious house of Medici of Florence. Manuel I was still king of Portugal and as by duty bound he sent an envoy to the new Pope to speak about the Portuguese possessions in the East, among which Ceylon ranked high.

The Pope’s interest was aroused. He was told about the countries, their inhabitants, manner of life, mode of dress and other details, and of the kings of the East who had presented Manuel with handsome specimens of rare birds and beasts. The envoy added that he had been commanded by the king of Portugal humbly to enquire of the Pope, whether His Holiness would deign to accept as a token of the king’s filial devotion to the Pontiff’s person, and also to the Apostolic See, the gift of an elephant.

An ordinary person would have thought long before saying yes. There was hardly a Roman at the time who had any notion of what an elephant looked like. How would he know about the habits of the beast? Where would an elephant sleep? What would he eat? What would the neighbours say?

The Pope had no such problem. He wished to know more about the beast that was offered to him and did not conceal his willingness to accept the offer. The elephant, he was told, was perfectly domesticated. He had lived for seven years in Lisbon and was in good health. His name was Annone. He could perform gracefully many an elegant measure to the rhythm of gong and drum. The Pope concluded that Annone would be a great success in Rome. His like had not been seen on the banks of the Tiber since the days of the Roman Empire.

When at length Annone arrived in Rome, there was a great commotion. He was led up the Borgo towards the Vatican adorned with a rich caparison nearing the embroidered crests of the Pope and king Manuel. It is said that, when the elephant made his obeisance to the Pope on both knees and with his great head bowed low to the ground, there was a loud cheer from the multitude.

One of those who would have been present among the crowd was the Florentine painter Raphael. He was working for the Pope, decorating the rooms of the Vatican palace and advising on the building of St. Peter’s. The elephant in the murals of the Loggia of the palace was none other than a portrait of Annone.

There were of course some people who did not approve of the exotic pachyderm wandering about the courtyards of the Vatican. The men whose duty it was to carry the Pope in his chair, the Sedia Gestatoria, for example, looked upon the elephant as a potential usurper. But Annone conducted himself well. He was everybody’s pet and the epithets generally used were Caro, bello, simpatico.

The only snag was that admirers kept on feeding him all the time. He developed stomach trouble and one day he lay down and died. He had lived in the odour of sanctity for only three years. Annone was buried by the great tower – which no longer exists – near the Bronze Gate to the Vatican. Raphael was said to have written an epitaph, but this has not been found.

Among the many admirers of Annone was Cardinal Giuliano Medici, cousin of the Pope and later a Pope himself with the title of Clement VII. He was at the time completing the beautiful Villa Madama, the present official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy, now used mainly for conferences and entertaining. The Cardinal had seen the elephant squirt water from his trunk, and it occurred to him that he would be a good model for a fountain in the grounds of the villa. He ordered the sculptor, Giovanni da Udine to make an effigy of Annone for the fountain.

During the sack of Rome the fountain was destroyed but the head and curly trunk of the effigy remained. Of the two Popes Annone knew, Leo X was a great Pontiff. Clement VII was, to put

this mildly, unlucky. The Church in England broke away during his reign, and Clement was more than once a prisoner in Castel Angelo when the hordes of the Emperor Charles V descended on Rome.

I have endeavoured to prove that Annone was a native of Ceylon. The information about his life in Rome is given by my friend Mr. James Utley who has been for over 50 years a member of the British mission to the Vatican. Some may be tempted to make a film of Annone. I think there is enough material for a good script.

(First published in 1961)