Rape of the Sabine Women

In August 1582 a marble group just over four metres tall went up in the Loggia dei Lanzi, the open arcade on Florence's main square, and in January 1583 it was unveiled to the city. Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici was filling the old civic loggia with sculpture, and at the other end of its front stood Cellini's bronze Perseus, which had been there since 1554. Giambologna carved all three figures from a single block, one of the largest ever brought to Florence. A young man lifts a woman off the ground, and an older man crouches between his legs. The three bodies twist upward in one spiral, so there is no main view to settle on. Walk around it and the group rearranges itself every few steps. On the base, a bronze relief tells the same story as a crowded scene, with many smaller figures set at different depths.