The newly restored Column of Justice in piazza Santa Trinita was inaugurated on January 25. The eight-month long restoration cost 150,000 euro and was funded thanks to the sale of billboard space that adorned the outside of the scaffolding.
Over the centuries, the column had become sufficiently pockmarked, Justice’s cape had oxidized, showing numerous holes, and the marble pieces started to come apart. The restoration focused on repairing these damages as well as adding a brass support to reinforce the statue’s left arm, which was determined to be at risk when, following the project, chemical, physical, biological, mineralogical and petrographic analyses were carried out to better understand the monument’s state of conservation. These analyses revealed the presence of micro-cracks on the left arm, which were filled with resin and secured with the support.
The column, along with the Column of Peace in piazza San Felice and the Column of Religion in piazza San Marco, was erected by Cosimo I de’ Medici following his appointment as the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1570. This particular column was gifted to the Medici family in 1560 by Pope Pius IV, who took it from the Baths of Caracalla.
At the top of the column stands Justice, brandishing a sword in her right hand and scales in her left. The statue was entrusted to Francesco del Tadda and his son Romolo, who were experts in carving porphyry. The father-son duo followed the design of Bartolomeo Ammannati. It took 11 years to complete the sculpture, which comprises six individual pieces of stone clamped together with copper linchpins.
