1-271-101 - Peter Thompson/Heritage Images

Statue of Cosimo de Medici, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. A member of the Medici political dynasty that ruled Florence during much of the Renaissance period, Cosimo I de Medici (1519-1574) was the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1537 until his death. He was an important patron of art and architecture, commissioning the Uffizi, and finishing the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. This bronze equestrian statue of him by Giambologna was unveiled in 1598.