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Monument of Cosimo I (1594) by Giambologna
The
Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I
is a bronze equestrian statue executed by
Giambologna
from 1587 to 1594, and erected in 1594 in the
Piazza della Signoria
in
Florence
,
Tuscany
, Italy.
History
[
edit
]
This statue follows the
Classical Roman
tradition of
equestrian statues
as the monument to a ruler's power, evident from the
statue of Marcus Aurelius
in ancient Rome and the
Regisole
in
Pavia
, and continued in the Renaissance by examples such as
Donatello
's
statue of Gattamelata
(1453) in
Padua
and
Verrocchio
's
statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni
(1488) in
Venice
.
This monument was commissioned by
Cosimo
's son
Ferdinando I
from the sculptor
Giambologna
, who also completed the
Rape of the Sabines
in the adjacent
Loggia dei Lanzi
. The Cosimo statue stands in front of the north corner of the
Palazzo della Signoria
, the northernmost of the row of statues, adjacent to the
Fountain of Neptune
(1563) by
Ammannati
, that had been commissioned by Cosimo himself. Together this duo celebrates the land and sea ambitions of Cosimo. The base of the statue has reliefs with scenes from the life of Cosimo, including his coronation in Rome as grand duke in 1570 and his entrance into
Siena
as a ruler (1557) after his victory over
that republic
.
[1]
The posture of the trotting horse in this statue is similar to those of prior statues, with right leg raised; however, unlike Marcus Aurelius, Cosimo uses stirrups and his horse shows the restraint of the bridle, albeit without much tension. Cosimo, like Gattamelata, holds a military baton, armor, and sheathed sword.
Some sources state the man and horse were cast separately, and the combined weight of the two was 23 thousand pounds.
[2]
A few decades hence, Ferdinando I would have his own
equestrian monument in Piazza dell'Annunziata
.
[3]
References
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]
43°46′11″N
11°15′22″E
/
43.76981°N 11.25605°E
/
43.76981; 11.25605
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