Hernando Stained Glass Hippo Poster

Legend has it that the Stained Glass Animals were created by a glass artist who lived across the street from Geppetto, the woodcarver who created Pinocchio in 1883. Unlike Pinocchio, whose change from puppet to small boy was chronicled in his earliest adventures and made into a major motion picture, the Stained Glass Animals were created for an obsessively private wealthy nobleman’s private zoo. How they came to life remains a mystery. Where are they now? That the animals were well-cared for by the nobleman’s family until the end of World War II is well known. When the last family member died, the estate was sold off and the animals disappeared. The Small Friends Research Institute has dedicated staff to locating the lost Stained Glass Animals and to documenting their fragmented history. Stained Glass Hippo Survival Although some of Hernando’s distant relations include hippos as large as five tons, the glass artist had been challenged to create a family of hippos who could survive in a pond in a greenhouse which they did quite well for decades. Hernando and four siblings left Italy after the end of World War II in an American soldier’s backpack. They continue to live a great life in a very large greenhouse on a Long Island, NY estate.