Tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli

What it is

This is a marble tomb monument to Niccolò Machiavelli, sculpted by Innocenzo Spinazzi in 1787 and located in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. It features a seated allegorical female figure holding a medallion carved with a male profile bust, resting on a base decorated with lion-paw feet and a wreathed shield. The Latin inscription reads 'Tanto nomini nullum par elogium' ('No eulogy is equal to so great a name'), along with Machiavelli's name and the year of his death, 1527.

Why it matters

Built more than 250 years after Machiavelli's death, this monument reflects his rehabilitation during the Enlightenment, when he came to be celebrated as one of Florence's great intellectual figures rather than condemned, as he had sometimes been, for the harsh political ideas in his writing. It shows how later generations reshaped his reputation.

Look closer

• What does the Latin inscription suggest about how the sculptor and his patrons wanted Machiavelli to be remembered?
• Why might it have taken over two centuries for Machiavelli to receive such an honored monument?
• What is the allegorical female figure doing, and what might she represent?