John of Austria or Don Giovanni d'Austria is a monumental sculpture in bronze, originally gilded, of John of Austria by architect and sculptor Andrea Calamech, a native of Carrara who trained in the Florentine workshop of Bartolomeo Ammannati. Its erection was decided by the Senate of Messina in 1571 to honor the victor of the Battle of Lepanto, from which many Messineses had benefited, and it was dedicated in 1572. William Stirling-Maxwell called it "one of the most effective monuments of sixteenth-century art". On the sides of the pedestal are bronze plaques depicting the fleet, the battle, and the fleet's victorious return to Messina as well as an inscription. John is figured holding a three-pronged baton in reference to his command of the triple alliance of Philip II, the Pope, and the