The annoying man in the wall

To the right of the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's town hall, at about shoulder height, there's a face scratched into the stone. The profile of a man, roughly hacked out, with no text beside it. The Florentines call it l'Importuno, the annoying man.

Tradition holds that Michelangelo made it. One version says a nagging acquaintance kept cornering him here every day, and that he carved the man out of sheer irritation. Another says he did it on a bet, with his hands behind his back. Whether he really made it can't be proven, and the stone has stood here as a curiosity for centuries.

Until 1873 the David stood on this spot, placed here while the republic still existed, its gaze turned south and the sling a warning to anyone who thought of forcing something on the city. What you see now is a copy from 1910, in the original place.

Head east along Via dei Neri to Via Ghibellina, where the house stands that he bought for his family.