The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Duomo Cathedral
Florence Firenze Italy
2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzocco

The Marzocco is the heraldic lion that is a symbol of Florence, and was apparently the first piece of public secular sculpture commissioned by the Republic of Florence, in the late 14th century.

Everyone knows the famous ‘Florentine Lily’, but did you know that the lion is also a symbol of the city of Florence?
Undoubtedly the most famous is the lion, called ‘Marzocco’, by Donatello whose copy in Piazza della Signoria proudly protects the red lily, coat of arms of Florence.
The image of the lion was chosen by the Florentine Republic, to replace the imperial symbol eagle, to demonstrate its political supremacy.
The ‘symbol was born’ around 1280 when the Florentines wanted to place in Piazza San Giovanni a cage with a real lion to emphasize the independence of Florence.
As luck would have it, one day the beast escaped from its cage, spreading panic through the streets of the city.
He took a child in his flight but, to the utmost amazement, handed it back without a scratch to his mother and then led back, without resistance, into a cage.
From that moment in Florence the lion was guarded as a good fortune.

https://duomo.firenze.it/en/home

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third largest church in the world.

Also known as the Duomo Cathedral, this majestic structure set the scene for the Italian Renaissance and went on to inspire a legion of architects and artists on the continent. Moreover, the cathedral was built in dedication to the Virgin of Flowers and remains an important landmark for both locals and tourists.

Florence Cathedral, formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, is the cathedral of Florence, Italy. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.