Festina Lente

This piece is a copy of a detail from the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The motto Festina Lente, translated from Latin as 'Hasten Slowly', is represented with a turtle surmounted by a winged figure with a sail in his hands. This symbol was used by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de Medici as an emblem for his fleet.