The column, made by Donato Benti, is nicknamed the ‘Marzocco Column’ because of the figure displayed at the top of it. It is a lion that is sitting on its hind legs, and with its right paw is holding up a shield that has the Florentine lily on it. This representation is one of the oldest symbols of Florence, and was purposefully chosen by the artist to represent Florence. It also attempts to show the uncontested dominion of the Medici in Pietrasanta. The same artist, Donato Benti, linked this artwork to Florence’s political expansion, and particularly to the act of sculpting of marble, which was an industry in fast expansion in the years of the Medici rule. Nominated as the head of the quarry works by Michelangelo, Benti worked at the township of Pietrasanta, where he lived and worked from 1487 to 1498, and then from 1507, until his death. While he lived in Pietrasanta, in 1513, he created the Marzocco Column in honour of Florence, which had re-conquered the area after a brief period of French rule.
