Medici duke Cosimo I appears as Neptune in this statue (1563-1575), a work
of Bartolommeo Ammannati and assistants (including Giambologna), it was
ridiculed by Michelangelo, who wrote:
"Ammannato [sic], Ammannato, che bel marmo hai rovinato"
(Ammannato, Ammannato, what a beautiful piece of marble you have ruined).
Florentines refer to this work as "Il Biancone" or "The White Giant", and claim
it wanders around the piazza when struck by the light of a full moon.
Look for the stone inscription
on the ground in front of the statue, the spot where Girolamo Savonarola and two
fellow Dominican monks were burned for heresay on May 23, 1498.
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