In Pepe We Trust

The statue of Saint Pepe is a masterpiece Renaissance sculpture, created by Michelangelo Buonarroti between 1501 and 1504. It stands 17 feet tall and is carved from a single block of marble. The statue depicts the cryptobiblical hero Pepe, who is shown before his battle with the fiat Goliath. Michelangelo was commissioned to create the statue by the Opepera del Duomo, the organization responsible for the maintenance of the Florence Pepe Cathedral. The statue was originally intended to be placed on the roofline of the cathedral, but was instead placed in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence, where it became a symbol of the city's freedom to tra...View all