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The ''Marzocco'' is the heraldic lion that is a symbol of
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, and was apparently the first piece of public secular sculpture commissioned by the
Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence (; Old Italian: ), known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flor ...
, in the late 14th century. The lion stood at the heart of the city in the
Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...
at the end of the platform attached to the
Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...
called the ''ringhiera'', from which speakers traditionally harangued the crowd. This is now lost, having weathered with time to an unrecognizable mass of stone. The best known rendition is by
Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...
, made in 1418–20. Donatello’s ''Marzocco'' was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in 1812, but in 1885 it was moved to the Bargello, having been replaced by the copy we see to this day.


The first Marzocco

The original that had stood since (perhaps) 1377, and is now lost, appears to have been similar to Donatello's in design, though it was fully gilded and may have crouched over a submissive wolf representing Florence's great rival
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
. It can be seen in the background of several paintings and prints, though by the time it was replaced it was so worn that (being only medieval, not classical) it was not considered worth keeping, and disappeared. About 1460 it was given a richly sculptural socle with double
baluster A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
-like motifs at the corners. The ''ringhiera'', once a platform from which the ''Signoria'' addressed the people, then a focus for popular tumult, was removed at the same time as the statue was replaced by Donatello's on a pedestal in 1812.


Name

The obscure name ''Marzocco'', unfathomable to some scholars, would by others derive from ''Marte'' (
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
), whose Roman statue, known as the "Roman God of War", noted by Dante and carried away by a flood of the Arno in 1333, had previously been Florence’s emblem. The lion is seated and with one paw supports the coat-of-arms of Florence, the fleur de lys called ''il giaggiolo'', the iris. ''Marzocco'' was` invoked in the Florentine
battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...
and figures in Gentile Aretino's poem "Alla battaglia":
" San Giorgio, Marzoccho Marzoccho
suona percuoti, forbocta rintoccho
Palle palle, Marzoccho Marzoccho
legagli strecti e pon lor buona taglia!"


Symbol

The ''Marzocco'' was such a powerful symbol of the Florentine Republic that the republican Florentine troops in the Siege of Florence (1529–1530) were known as ''marzoccheschi'', "sons of the Marzocco", and pro-Medici besiegers of the city in 1530 held a funeral and ritually buried a representation of it, with bells tolling. Prisoners of war from
Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...
were forced to kiss it in 1364. At Anghiari, subject to Florence from 1385, the 15th-century Palazzo del Marzocco faces the church; at Montepulciano stands the ''Marzocco'' column; at
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
the ''Marzocco'' stands against the Palazzo dei Priori, seat of government; at
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
the 15th-century ''Torre del Marzocco'' (''illustration, right'') guards the harbor entrance; and at
Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...
there are a 16th-century ''Marzocco'' fountain and the ''Marzocco'' column, erected in 1513 when
Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...
awarded the commune to Florence. In the subjected territory of Pisa, when
Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Du ...
entered Sarzana in 1494, the Pisans took the ''Marzocco'', emblem of their subjugation to Florence, and cast it into the Arno. Live lions were kept at the commune's expense from the Middle Ages until they were banished in 1771. At times the ''Marzocco'' would be crowned according to a motto by the writer of '' novelle'' Franco Sacchetti:
"Corona porto, per la patria degna,
Acciochè libertà ciascun mantegna."


Donatello's

Donatello's ''Marzocco'' was commissioned by the Republic of Florence for the apartment of
Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...
at Santa Maria Novella, where this traditional ''insegna'' of communal republican defense stood guard atop a column at the foot of the stairs that led to the ''sale del papa'' ("Papal apartments") in the convent. It is sculpted in the fine-grained gray sandstone of Tuscany called pietra serena. The Pope lingered at Florence after leaving the
Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...
during the
Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
. This staircase was demolished, perhaps by 1515. The Donatello ''Marzocco'' was moved to the
Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...
in 1812,Touring Club Italiano, ''Firenze e dintorni'' (Milan) 1964 pp. 116, 170.


After 1812

A crowned ''Marzocco'', emphasizing the sovereign independence of
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, appears on Tuscany's first issue of postage stamps, 1851. ''Il Marzocco'' was adopted for the name of a progressive weekly literary review in broadsheet format published in Florence in 1896–1932.


See also

*The
Medici lions The Medici lions are a pair of marble sculptures of lions: one of which is Rome, Roman, dating to the 2nd century AD, and the other a 16th-century Pendant painting, pendant. By 1598 both were placed at the Villa Medici, Rome. Since 1789 they ...


Notes


Sources

* Johnson, Geraldine A ''Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction'', 2005, OUP Oxford, , 9780192803542
google books
*McHam, Sarah Blake, ''Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture'', chapter "Public Sculpture in Renaissance Florence" (Cambridge University Press, 1998; paperback edition, 2000)
{{Donatello Sculptures by Donatello 14th century in the Republic of Florence Sculptures in the Bargello Sculptures of lions in Italy Monuments and memorials in Florence Outdoor sculptures in Florence Lions in heraldry