Florence, Italy - Piazza della Signoria

The goal for this part of the tour?  See the copy of Michelangelo's "David" in the large square Piazza della Signoria.

The tour continued through the streets of Florence from the Duomo to the collection of statues at Piazza della Signoria.  (We walked from #2 to #3.)  I was now in search of the statue of David in the outside plaza.

The piazza was huge and filled with people but your eyes were immediately drawn to the statues.  Where is David?  The large building is Palazzo Vecchio or Old Palace.  It is the town hall of Florence.  There is the Fountain of Neptune to the left, and yes, is it, to the right?

Ah, there he is.  What an impressive place to work. Michelangelo's David stood at the entrance of the building from its completion in 1504 to 1873, when it was moved to the Accademia Gallery.  A replica erected in 1910 now stands in its place, flanked by Baccio Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus.

A closer view of the Fountain of Neptune.  This statue is at the terminus of a still functioning Roman aquaduct.

A closeup of the Neptune statue.

To the right of Palazzo Vecchio is Loggia dei Lanzi. It is an open air gallery for statues.  On the left, above the boy's head, is Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus.

The statues here are (left) Giambologna's less celebrated marble sculpture Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus (1599).  On the far right is the manneristic group Rape of the Sabine Women by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne, better known by his Italianized name Giambologna. This impressive work was made from one imperfect block of white marble, the largest block ever transported to Florence.

Underneath the bay on the far left is the bronze statue of Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini.  It shows the mythical Greek hero holding his sword in this right hand and triumphantly holding up the Medusa's decapitated head in his left.

The statues in this outside gallery are fantastic and I didn't have enough time to photograph all of them.

Description source: Wikipedia