The Marzocco is a heraldic lion that has stood as a symbol of Florence since the Renaissance. The original, carved in the 14th century, was a figure of the Florentine Republic, and the lion held a shield bearing the city's lily emblem. The statue standing today in the Piazza della Signoria is a replica, placed there in 2000 to protect the original, which is now displayed in the Museo del Bargello. The figure is carved in sandstone and has long represented the authority and independence of the Republic. Its pose is calm and dignified rather than aggressive, a detail many art historians point to as a deliberate expression of civic strength. The lion sits in one of the city's most important public squares, close to the Palazzo Vecchio, where the Republic's government once met.
The replica of Michelangelo's David stands in the same square, placed there as a copy of the 1504 marble original. The original was carved by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504 and was moved indoors to the Galleria dell'Accademia in 1873 to preserve it from weather and damage. The figure was created as a symbol of civic courage and of the Republic's resistance to more powerful rivals, and its placement in front of the Palazzo Vecchio reinforced that message. The replica has stood in the square since 1910 and gives visitors a sense of the original's scale and presence in the setting for which it was first intended.