Remarks
The Signoria formed the government of Florence: it consisted of the representatives of the six guilds, the Priori delle Arti, joined in 1293 by a gonfaloniere (magistrate), whose post covered justice and military affairs. The officials were elected for only two months and lived in semi-reclusion during the period of office. Official ceremonies were held in this square and this is where the people would gather. The Pazzi and their hired assassins were hung here after their conspiracy failed (1478) and this is where, in 1497, Savonarola organised the burning of the trappings of vanity, including books, carnival masks, wigs and even musical instruments; he was hanged and burned at the stake on the very same site two years later.
The square, leading to the Uffici on the south side, is something of an open-air museum: in front of the Palace, the statue of Judith and Hoilofernes (a copy of the Donatello original inside) stands next to Michelangelo's famous David (a copy, the original is in the Accademia), an original group by Bandinelli, Hercules and Cacus and the Biancone, a white-marble fountain representing Neptune. On the corner of the square and the Uffici square, stands the late-14C Loggia della Signoria, where the guild representatives were sworn in and attended official public ceremonies. It contains the admirable bronze Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini and two groups by Giovanni da Bologna, Hercules Slaying the Centaur and the Rape of a Sabine.