Alciato's Book of Emblems

Emblem 2

Milan

A castrated sheep is the sign of the Bituriges, a piglet a sign of the Aedui. To these peoples is owed the origin of my homeland Milan which was, they said, sacred to a maiden. For the ancient Gallic tongue proclaims this. Minerva was worshipped, where now Thecla, transformed in divine majesty, is before the house of the Virgin Mother. A woolly pig is the sign, a double-shaped creature, partly with sharp bristles, partly with soft wool.