The birth of the Giants of Messina

It seems that the decision of the Senate of Messina to commission the construction of the Giants is linked to the rivalry with Palermo over the title of capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. The last restorer of the giants says that when the rulers of Messina, in 1547, learned of the discovery of the bones of the Giants in Palermo which held to be those of the progenitors of the city, they ordered the immediate construction of two mythical founders of Messina, which were built the following year according to the designs of the sculptor Giovanni Montorsoli.