Baccio Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus

The monumental ornamentation of Florence is composed of works which are important for the history of Italian art. These works are often e neglected by the generaI public, who are attracted mainly by the great city museums.
Given our conviction that the fascination of the city is also linked to the decoration of a public nature, in itself a direct and specific expression of the collective spirit of the entire Florentine community, we feel it is important to document some episodes of this which are, in our opinion, salient in their original context.
From the many significant works we have chosen to illustrate the ones which are Iess frequently studied by historians, or those works where the interpretation seems incomplete or still bears the sign of the weight of years. Our aim is to contribute to the recovery of the artistic gIory which Riguccio Galluzzi referred to as the "ornament" of Florence (l'"Ornato" di Firenze) in his work Istoria del Granducato di Toscana sotto il governo della Casa Medici (1781), commissioned by Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena.