From 1282 priors were representatives of the seven Major guilds: they fighted against the old aristocratic families revenging an active role of trade in Florence.
Michelangelo wanted a prominent frame without a gallery: an essemptial, simple architecture to accentuate the size of the dome!
A cage full of lions was situated behind Piazza Signoria in the actual Via dei Leoni in the middle of XIV century to protect priors.
The Dante funeral mask, once thought real, is now believed a lost sculptural portrait. Donated to Florence in 1911, found in Ravenna in 1830.