Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I, Bronze equestrian statue in Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy

The Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I is a bronze statue by Giambologna standing in Piazza della Signoria, in front of the north corner of the Palazzo della Signoria. The bearded duke, in armor and a cloak, holds reins and a military baton, his sheathed sword at his side; the horse trots with its right foreleg raised. The pale marble pedestal carries two dark bronze relief panels and Capricorn emblems.

Ferdinando I commissioned the statue from Giambologna in 1587 to honour his father Cosimo I, who had died about fifteen years earlier. The horse was cast in a single pour by 1591; the Grand Duke's figure and the marble pedestal completed the work in 1594. It was the first large equestrian sculpture made in Florence, and its fame brought Giambologna commissions for Paris, Madrid and the monument to Ferdinando I himself.

Three marble reliefs on the pedestal show Cosimo's election as duke in 1537, the conquest of Siena in 1555 and the grant of the grand ducal title in 1569, each with a Latin caption above it. Capricorn emblems also appear on the pedestal, Cosimo's own symbol. A Latin inscription cast in bronze on the east side praises his deeds.

The statue stands at the north corner of the Palazzo della Signoria, the northernmost in the row of sculptures beside Ammannati's Fountain of Neptune. Approach from the paved square to see the two dark relief panels on the pedestal and the Latin inscription cast into the bronze on the east side.

The horse was cast in one pour in 1591, three years before the rider and marble pedestal were finished. Some sources give the combined weight of man and horse as 23,000 pounds. Giambologna needed a foundry built for the size of the work.