in the 1857-59, a move was made to complete the dante statue, but now for florence. the patriotic pazzi recalls an unfortunate episode when the prince leopold, count of syracuse (brother of the king of naples) visited the studio accompanied by the interior minister of the grand duke, leopold ii. the visiting prince inquired why dante was surrounded by beasts. pazzi indicated the lions were the "marzocchi", long a symbol of medici florence. however, when asked why the eagle did not have a double head, the symbol of the habsburg dynasty, pazzi impertinently replied that this was a roman eagle, arising from the ashes of the fallen roman empire. with this, the retinue left. pazzi's statue would take nearly half a decade to rise in the piazza.