Four Moors

This is the oldest and most popular monument in Livorno, celebrating a victory of the Medici over the pirates who roamed the Mediterranean.The statue of Ferdinando I was sculpted in Carrara marble by the florentine Giovanni Bandini in 1595 but placed on its plinth only in 1617, under the rule of his son Cosimo II.The “Quattro Mori” (Four Moors), by Pietro Tacca from Carrara, were added later, in couples, between 1623 and 1626. The artist used two real prisoners as models, rewarded with freedom at the end of the pose.To make way for a new road, in 1861 the monument was moved back 20 meters to its present position facing the Darsena (the oldest part of the port).During the last war the statues were transported for safekeeping to the countryside, to protect them from the Allied air raids.
(Updated February 2010)

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