Beyond Renaissance in Florence - The Lorena triumphal Arch, a monument to the losers

Florence too has a triumphal arch like Paris, even if few people notice it, as it is isolated in a sea of traffic, in Piazza della Libertà. Any time of the day, gas and noise prevent passers-by from stopping for more than a few seconds, just long enough to wait for the green city lights and then run away as soon as possible. Actually it does not celebrate any triumph, indeed it is an example of empty rhetoric, with eagles, statues depicting Greco-Roman gods, horses and pompous warriors, all of modest artistic quality. The Florentine aristocracy decided to built it in 1737 to win the favor of Francis Stephen of Hapsburg Lorraine, who had been appointed new Grand Duke of Tuscany after the extinction of the Medici dynasty. Francis Stephen became emperor of the Austrian Empire in 1745, had 16 children (including Marie Antoinette, queen of France guillotined in Paris in 1793 during the revolution) and never had any interest in Tuscany. Actually came to Florence only once in 1739 for three months. He is said to have come only to steal and bring to Vienna artworks and treasures collected by the Medici and never returned. The construction of the arch, never loved by the Florentines and not even by the grand dukes successors of Francis Stephan, lasted wearily for 20 years. A very poor quality materials were used, so that a deterioration, triggered by natural agents and pigeons droppings, immediately began and proved unstoppable, despite the continuous and expensive restorations carried on until a few years ago (the last in 2011). Maybe florence doesn't want it and tries to destroy it, getting help from pigeons? However, it is a monument to the losers, the Lorena family was expelled from Florence on April 27, 1859! Florence, Piazza della Libertà.