Pope’s gun sells at Italian auction

This exceptional Spanish flintlock sporting gun is dated 1739, but both the gun and case bear the arms of Pope Pius VII, whose papacy was dominated by the Vatican’s troubled relationship with France during the Napoleonic period nearly a century later.

Faced with this dating conundrum, the auctioneers concluded that this was indeed a royal commission,…

Enjoy unlimited access: just £1 for 12 weeks

Subscribe now