The next leg of our journey took us to Florence, Italy.

The sites we visited in and around Florence are listed in yellow at left.

Click on them for more information and pictures.

I didn't find information on the Uffizi's outdoor sculpture court in any travel guides, but Dr. Wawrzycka took us there one morning.  It's a busy spot and the sculptures are great.  There are about 30 sculptures of famous historical Italians.  These include Dante and Boccacio so of course we got pictures!  The sculptures are in the area between the two Uffizi buildings in a courtyard-like area that leads to the Piazza della Signoria which is also an outdoor area and contains some must see sculptures.  The sculptures in particular that we took photos of were Dante Alighieri, Francis Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Machiavelli.  All of them are important literary figures. 

Then, as we headed to the end of the sculpture court onto the Piazza dell Signoria, we happened upon this guy...remember what I was saying about street entertainers!  This was very realistic...

He just stood there and would change positions every so often.  He would take pictures with people too, who would then throw some change in his statuesque vase.  There were a few of these guys along this courtyard area...we saw one actually putting on all his paint. 

Now on to the more famous sculptures which sit in a piazza next to the Pallazo Vecchio and the Uffizi.  The statues in this square include a copy of Michelangelo's David.  The original David was moved from this initial spot in 1873 to the Galleria dell'Accademia.

 Also featured here is The Rape of the Sabine Women (click on the link for the mythology story behind this sculpture) by Giovanni Bologna, Perseus by Cellini, the Neptune Fountain by Ammannati and a copy of The Marzocco by Donatello. They are shown below in the order mentioned.

*** The information on this page comes from/is confirmed in Eyewitness Travel Guides: Florence and Tuscany 2003. Pages 76-77. and Dr. W's lecture on literary figures of the Renaissance. ***