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Walking around Florence’s historic centre, you have of course noticed those lions with the Florence lily – there are many just in front of Santa Croce church; these heraldic lions are called Marzocco, and the most famous of them is the one created by Donatello, that you can see at the Bargello Museum.

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The strange name comes probably from the word Marte, whose Roman statue had previously been Florence’s emblem. The lion is seated and with one paw supports the coat-of-arms of Florence, the lily.  It had such a strong power that the Florentine troopers used to be called marzoccheschi, sons of the Marzocco.

Donatello’s original, sculpted in the fine-grained gray sandstone of Tuscany called pietra serena, has been conserved in the BArgello since 1855.

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