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The ''scrofa semilanuta'' ( English: "half-woollen boar") is an ancient emblem of the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, dating back at least to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

— and, according to a local legend, to the very foundation of Milan. Several ancient sources (including Sidonius Apollinaris, Datius, and, more recently, Andrea Alciato)Claudio Beretta, ''Letteratura dialettale milanese'', Ulrico Hoepli, pp. 21-26; se

/ref> have argued that the scrofa semilanuta is connected to the etymology of the ancient name of Milan, "Mediolanum", and this is still occasionally mentioned in modern sources, although this interpretation has long been dismissed by scholars. The adoption of the half-woolly sow as an emblem of Milan is associated to a legend about the foundation of the city. According to this legend (which partially draws from

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

's writings), the founder of Milan was a

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

prince named Belloveso. Belloveso reached the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

following a vision he had had in a dream, where a goddess showed him the place where the city would rise. In this dream, he saw a sow with unusually long wool on the front half of its body. Other ancient sources (most notably the aforementioned Alciato, who in turns credits

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

for his account) report that the half-woolly sow is actually a sort of Chimera — half boar and half ram — and that the emblem came about when the Bituriges and the Aedui, having as their emblems a ram and a boar respectively, joined in the Po Valley. The origin of the legend of scrofa semilanuta and the circumstances of its adoption as an emblem of Milan are a very controversial matter for scholars. A key element of this controversy is a bas relief affixed to the walls of the Palazzo della Ragione, former ''

broletto A ''broletto'' in Italy in the Middle Ages, medieval Italy communes was the place where the whole population met for democratic assemblies, and where the elected men lived and administered justice. ''Broletto'' is an ancient Italian language, It ...

'' (administrative building) of the

medieval commune Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. C ...

of Milan. The bas relief is reportedly a medieval copy of an older one, found during the excavations when the Palazzo was built (1228–1233). It has been argued that the legend of the scrofa semilanuta, in its current form, might have come about as a consequence of that particular finding as well as the patriotic enthusiasm for the newly conquered independence of Milan as a commune, elaborating on the old legends about the etymology of "Mediolanum".Scrofa semilanuta mediolanense
/ref> The bas relief itself might just represent a boar, which in turn was a very common emblem in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In any case, the "scrofa semilanuta" was thereafter adopted as the main emblem of Milan, at least until the advent of the '' biscione'' of the House of Visconti. Another (more recent) representation of the "scrofa semilanuta" is found in the internal courtyard of Palazzo Marino (Milan's city hall).

References

History of Milan Culture in Milan

See also

References