In the garden of the Hermitage (Bayreuth Germany) is a structure that must have been impressive in its day, a mausoleum said to be a copy of Virgil’s grave near Naples. The edifice built by Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, older sister of Frederick the Great, was all the more remarkable for it was built to hold a tiny little coffin holding the remains of “Folichon,” Wilhelmina’s beloved dog. Historical records vary on whether “Folichon” (which means “amusing,” or “charming”) was a Papillon, Pomeranian, Bolognese, or a King Charles spaniel,  but accounts are certain that “Folichon” had a pen pal relationship with “Biche,” Frederick’s beloved Italian Greyhound.

“Dearest she-dog. I love you and adore you,” Wilhelmina (in the guise of Folichon) wrote to Biche in 1748.  Their famous exchange of letters went down in the history of literature as the “Dog Letters.” Sadly, “Biche” died within three years of these correspondences with “Folichon.”

In 2004,  conceptual artist, Ottmar Hörl, placed multitudes of  “Folichons” at Bayreuth turning Wilhelmina’s favorite dog into a modern serial sculpture.

Image of mausoleum from Wikicommons under GNU Free Documentation License