POPE AND PACHYDERM

Pope Leo X

That's Pope Leo X up there, as painted by Raphael.  He was Pope from 1475-1521.  On the day of his inauguration, he sat by a Vatican window watching a procession, of which an elephant formed part.  The great beast knelt three times, then stuck his trunk into a tub of water, then squirting the onlooking crowd, not excepting the Pontiff.