Public places provide the stage for the social life of a city, and this is why they have always been the preferred site for the display of sculptural works. Reaching beyond artistic claims and in concert with the surrounding architecture, they mark social, political, legal, and ritual spaces. Like chess pieces, they are placed, realized, and replaced strategically, some slipping from their assigned role and taking on transformed meaning under new rulers. The 14 contributions of this anthology shine a light on the spatial interplay of sculpture and urban environments from the Early Modern Age to the present.