Suspended from a cable above the open space of Piazza della Vittoria is a large bronze rhinoceros, installed in 2015 by sculptor Stefano Bombardieri. The animal appears to float a few metres above the ground, its weight suggesting both gravity and tension. It is an intentionally provocative presence in one of Italy's most intact pieces of Fascist-era urban design — a Mussolini-era square built in the 1930s from the demolition of the adjacent medieval neighbourhood.
The square itself is worth examining: designed by the architect Marcello Piacentini, it features stripped-classical colonnades, a tall marble tower, and the overall imposing blankness characteristic of 1930s totalitarian architecture. The juxtaposition with the Renaissance Piazza della Loggia immediately adjacent is striking. The rhinoceros makes the history unavoidable.