Monument of the Four Moors

Bandini continued to work for the Duke of Urbino until 1595, when he was called to Pisa to collaborate on the bronze door of the cathedral. At this time he was also commissioned to execute a monumental statue of Grand Duke Ferdinand I for the Piazza Micheli, Livorno.

The Monument of the Four Moors (“Monumento dei quattro mori”) was created by Giovanni Bandini (statue of the Grand Duke, 1595) and Pietro Tacca (statues of the four Moors, 1623). It shows the Grand Duke of Tuscany, wearing the uniform of Grand Master of the knightly Order of Santo Stefano, triumphing above four Turkish (Moorish) prisoners, after building a war fleet for the Order of Santo Stefano to counter attacks from Barbaric pirates.

Three of the four bronze statues of enslaved prisoners chained at the base of the statue of Ferdinando I show physical characteristics representing people of the southern Mediterranean coast while the fourth statue has characteristics of a black African.