Piazza della Signoria - Table of Contents................ Architecture Around the World
Statue
of Cosmo I
Piazza
della Signoria,
Florence, Italy
Erected: |
1594 |
Artist: |
Jean Boulogne, a Flemish
sculptor, who was known in Italy as Giambologna. Commissioned by Cosimo's son, Ferdinando, the third grand duke of Tuscany (reigned 1584-1609). See also: Two statues in the Loggia della Signoria |
Material: |
Bronze |
Cosimo I
de’ Medici became head of the Florentine Republic in 1537 at
the the tender age of seventeen and conquered his way to being named
the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569. Cosimo was also famous for the
creation of the Uffizi, designed for him by Giorgio Vasari, which
gathered all of the city’s administrative offices and public services
under one roof, a rather innovative idea at the time. The Medici were great patrons of the arts and statuary was one of their favorite modes of conceptual and political communication. Cosimo’s son, Ferdinando I de’ Medici commissioned Giambologna, most famous for his Rape of the Sabine Women [in the Piazza della Signoria Loggia] and many Medici fountains, to create an equestrian statue of Cosimo. The bronze statue, like Giambologna’s statue of Ferdinando, is reminiscent of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The Roman emperor was most famous for his philosophical work, the Meditations. This image would indicate not only the Medici’s power and deep roots in Italy, but their learnedness. - Florence in War and Flood (online April 2929) |
Note feathered visitor Feathered visitor |
Plinth Plinth ... Bas-relief Six balls: Medici family coat of arms ... The number of balls varied with time Cosimo I's entrance into Siena as a ruler (1557) after his victory over that republic ... Three details below: Left Center Right |