Walking in the Centre of Florence you can come across a unique curiosity: an example of Street Art ante litteram.
On the right of the entrance on the façade of the Palazzo Vecchio is a small graffito depicting a profile of a man, known by Florentines as "Troublesome".
Legend has it that the artist of this sketch on stone is just the master Michelangelo Buonarroti in person.
The story goes that Buonarroti was often stopped in Piazza della Signoria or via della Ninna by a gentleman a little troublesome, hence then name the graffito, and chatty when he attacked to chat won't stop.
I guess we all have in mind the type of person.
One day Michelangelo, bored with long monologues of such, to pass the time, he decided to sculpt a face of a passente with his hands behind his back. A small gesture of a great artist has remained intact to the present day.
Yet another version of the story says that Michelangelo saw an execution in the square and the face is that of the man on death row
If the graphite was indeed by Michelangelo is not attested with accuracy by any text but the face on the façade of the Palace of the Florentine power there is for real!
What is certain is that this example of Renaissance street art in one of the most beautiful squares in the world, certainly deserves to be seen.
Map