The grandiose Piazza della Signoria was historically and is still to this day the political heart of Florence, with a backdrop formed by the Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia della Signoria and the Uffizi beyond. The square is a real open-air museum, decorated with works of art such as the equestrian statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna, the fountain of Neptune (1576) by Ammannati, a copy of the Marzocco lion by Donatello and a copy of Michelangelo's David.