PICTURES FROM ITALY (Est. 2001)
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art
Private Tours of Florence

Art and Power

4/7/2019

 
Walking Tours of Florence
Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli

Outside the main entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio stand two large statues, one is a copy of Michelangelo's David, the other is Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli (1488-1560).

To rival Michelangelo's achievements as a sculptor was one of the driving forces of Bandinelli's life and here we can see the extent to which he achieved that ambition.

The statue of Hercules and Cacus was commissioned in 1525 by Clement VII (r. 1523-34), the second member of the Medici family to become pope. However, before Bandinelli began work, the Medici clan were again expelled from the city and replaced by the final flowering of the Florentine republic (1527-30). When the Medici were restored to power in 1531, and the young Alessandro de' Medici (1511-37) was installed as the first duke of Florence, the commission was renewed.

Hercules, contrary to myth, is depicted as sparing Cacus, the monster and cattle-rustler, to signify the divine clemency of the pope, who chose his regnal name to refer to his policy of strong but clement rule.

Bandinelli's statue was not well-received by many of his fellow sculptors, including Benvenuto Cellini (1500-71), who compared the musculature of Hercules to a 'sack full of melons’.

Entrance to Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Entrance to Palazzo Vecchio

Comments are closed.

    Blogging about Florence:
    its art, history and culture.


    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 200I I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ private tours of Florence, Rome &
    Venice.


    Search Pictures From Italy:

    Blog Posts

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018


Follow Pictures From Italy on Facebook

Private Tours of Rome, Florence & Venice

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2019. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art