Heraldry in Florence, Part Twenty-Four

While walking down one of the streets of Florence, we ran across these very three-dimensional depictions of an uncommon heraldic charge, a fireball. (A fireball is a type of grenade, but where an heraldic grenade has but one flame out its top, a fireball will have flames at the sides and, in two-dimensional drawings, at the bottom, as well.)

This one was placed above the doorway to the building, and it just drew me in. What a tremendous rendering of this charge, with the flames spurting from it in several directions! (The little metal spikes set into the concrete around it are designed to keep the pigeons off. The pigeons in Florence, like pigeons everywhere, seem to have very little respect for either art or heraldry.)

Another version of the fireball was found along the metal fence in front of the building. The sections of the fence were of upright bars each terminating in a fleur-de-lis. At each post to which these sections were attached was placed a fireball.

What a great use of this heraldic charge!