Mars Gravidus

The majestic statue known as “Mars Gradivus” - characteristic that indicates his divinity or his battle stance - is one of Bartolomeo Ammannati’s masterpieces, a virtuous example of the cultured assimilation of Michelangelo’s lessons in the accurate rendering of the anatomy and torsion of the torso. It represents the god Mars marching at the head of an army with a baton in his right hand and a sword in his left, originally with a blade.

This work is one of the several statues in marble and bronze made by Ammanati for Cosimo I de’ Medici. Its size lead to the assumption that it was intended for exhibition in a public place in the city.