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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Saturday, March 25, 2017

kiss and make up, 1797

thanks http://gallica.bnf.fr (PD)
History lesson, everybody!  What European peace treaty does this odd picture represent?  No, I didn't know either...

The caption reads, "Le Traité de paix avec Rome : baisez ça papa et faite pate de velours." Translated as best I can: The peace treaty with Rome, kissing the Pope and keeping a good face on it.  
There's a possibility the actual meaning might be a lot cruder, considering this is a satire of the Treaty of Tolentino of February 1797 in which Napoleon imposed terms of surrender on the Papal States.  So the cat in the hat there is the Pope, accepting a branch of peace that isn't going to end well for him and he knows it.  The Pope in question, Pius VI, was shuttled off to exile, and died a year later in France.

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