Pigeons spend far more time admiring statues than people who just walk by, which is too bad because most represent fascinating history. For example, the Giovanni Delle Bande Nere statue at Piazza San Lorenzo is a tribute to the last, great Italian condottiero named Lodovico de Medici. He was the savage head of professional mercenaries who fought battles for hire by local cities and the pope until he died shortly after being wounded in 1526. Oddly, his body was exhumed in 2012 and they determined that his foot, and not his entire leg, had been amputated in an attempt to save his life.
