[59] St. Mark, chapter xvi., verses 4-6.
[60] St. John, chapter vi., verse 51.
XVI
IL MARZOCCO (THE HERALDIC LION OF FLORENCE)
BY DONATELLO
In the history of the several cities of Italy every town has chosen some design to be inscribed upon a shield as a coat of arms. Florence has the lily, as a reminder of the far-away days when the valley of the Arno was filled with the red blossoms of the amaryllis. It was for this that the name Firenze was given to the city, the "City of Flowers." The lily is drawn in three petals somewhat like those of the fleur-de-lis of France; but the Florentine flower is broader than its French counterpart, and has besides two slender flower-stalks separating the larger petals. When represented in color it is always red.
The tutelary genius of Florence is the lion. He stands for the noble and heroic qualities in the Florentine citizen. Courage and patriotism have many a time been magnificently illustrated in the history of the city's struggles against tyranny. Like the king of beasts, the loyal Florentine prefers death to the loss of liberty.
The choice of the lion as a civic emblem explains the fact that a preserve of lions was once kept in Florence at the public expense. This was given up centuries ago, but the Via de' Leoni, or street of the lions, remains to remind us of the old custom. There was still another way in which Florence kept the emblem continually before the minds of her people. This was in the stone lion called the [Marzocco], set up in the piazza, or square, of the Signoria.
For many years the civic life of Florence centred in the Piazza della Signoria, where stands the old gray stone palace called the Palazzo Vecchio. Of some of the important events which took place here in the fifteenth century we may read in George Eliot's "Romola." It was here the Florentines gathered on all occasions of public interest, whether connected with the political or the religious affairs of their city.
In front of the Palazzo Vecchio is a stone platform called the ringhiera, and it was on this that the Marzocco was set up as a stimulus to patriotism. The lion sits on his haunches in an attitude of grave dignity. In this position he is much more alert than a crouching lion, and less aggressive than the rampant lion. His duty is to guard the honor of the city, and his pose is much like that of the watchdog. With his right paw he supports a shield on which the Florentine lily is engraved. We are reminded of our own national eagle holding the shield of the stars and stripes.