Bargello Museum: history and must-see works

Our tour inside this precious treasure chest of art in Florence

The Donatello Hall of the Bargello National Museum reopens to the public after nearly a year of restoration and reinstallation work, once again showcasing the absolute masterpieces of Renaissance sculpture it holds.

With its 18-meter height and 445 square meters of surface area, the Hall is the most imposing space in the palace: the heart of the Bargello National Museum’s itinerary and a true symbol of Renaissance art. Nine of Donatello’s masterpieces reside in this room: the marble David, Saint George, the Marzocco, the famous bronze David, Attis, the Dancing Putto, the Crucifixion, the Head of a Bearded Man, and the Madonna of via Pietrapiana, one of the museum’s most recent acquisitions. These are joined by the Saint John the Baptist Martelli, sculpted in collaboration with Desiderio da Settignano, and other works partly executed by Donatello or created in his workshop based on his designs.

Alongside Donatello’s sculptures, the Hall also displays works by those who, together with him, were founding fathers of the Florentine Renaissance: Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, represented here by the panels they submitted for the famous 1401 competition for the north door of the Florence Baptistery. Also present is Luca della Robbia, who astonished his contemporaries with the invention of what Vasari called “a new, useful, and beautiful art” — the technique of glazed terracotta.

The Hall also features artists who were close collaborators of Donatello, such as Michelozzo, as well as outstanding pupils like Desiderio da Settignano and Bertoldo di Giovanni, all of whom contributed to the enduring legacy of early Florentine Renaissance sculpture.

The New Exhibition Layout at the Bargello Museum

The new exhibition layout includes 65 works and is characterized by a series of design choices aimed at improving the experience, visibility, and safety of the sculptures on display.

Among the main innovations is the arrangement of Donatello’s two Davids: the bronze David is now placed at the center of the hall, emphasizing its role as a true icon of the museum, while the marble David has been positioned next to Saint George. This new placement allows for a direct comparison between the two works, highlighting the sculptor’s rapid stylistic evolution.

The positions of Donatello’s Attis and Verrocchio’s David have also been rethought and relocated as part of a setup that aims to restore greater narrative coherence and readability to the exhibition path.

Another notable innovation concerns the display bases of the five sculptures positioned at the center of the hall. These works are now installed on platforms equipped with anti-seismic and anti-tipping devices, integrated within a steel structure.

The system includes a diffusion frame placed along the perimeter edges, fitted with special-material pads designed to absorb and dampen vibrations generated by a potential seismic event, thereby ensuring the highest level of protection for the sculptures on display.

The Bargello Museum

Approaching from the north, along Via del Proconsolo, the Bargello reveals itself in all its severity — a bit grim, even. Its somber past as a prison for political prisoners still lingers, despite the fact that today it shares with the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Cluny Museum in Paris the distinction of being a leading institution for the so-called minor or decorative arts. But it is thanks above all to Dante — who, incidentally, was sentenced to death in absentia and to perpetual exile within these very walls — and to the slightly younger Giotto, who perhaps for that very reason wished to remember him by giving history its first portrait of the poet, that the palace was chosen as the first national museum of Florence when it became the capital of Italy. And today, it is only here that one can compare Donatello’s experimental flair with Michelangelo’s monumental power. To side with one or the other.

History of the Bargello Museum

It should be remembered, however, that the Bargello (hence the term sbirro), was built to represent the free ordinary citizen. Indeed, it was here that the Podestà and Capitano del popolo (head of state and government) worked and lived. It was built in the mid-1200s when the city, despite the struggles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, was experiencing the most dazzling century of its history. So no sooner had Lapo di Cambio completed the city's first public palace than Florence was already entrusting his son Arnolfo with the construction of the new palazzo podestarile that would later belong to the Signoria. And at the Bargello justice will continue to be administered in this way. And it is here that political prisoners begin to end up. And it is also here, that ever since the expulsion of the Duke of Athens Gualtieri of Brienne that we hear of the so-called infamous paintings. He is in fact the first to end up portrayed upside down thanks to the happy hand of Giottino. And for centuries the north wall of the Volognana Tower, left purposely plastered, is painted with portraits of the wanted by the most experienced artists, including Botticelli and Andrea del Castagno who gets the nickname Andreino degli impiccati and later Pontormo. Trials were held and death sentences carried out in the Bargello where today a pit replaces the old gallows. Often the condemned were then left hanging outside or their severed heads resting on logs along the way. It was on his way home that on the evening of December 29, 1479, a young Leonardo stopped to immortalize Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli, who had participated in the Pazzi conspiracy the year before and was now dangling from a window of the Bargello. Strident is the painstaking description of the hanged man's rich and colorful robes. The step to grim imprisonment is a short one. Under the Medici duchy, the Bargello was completely transformed. The Audience Hall, now by Donatello, is divided into four floors with as many as 32 cells and an oratory; the Magdalene Chapel also suffers a similar fate. In the courtyard capital punishments are carried out accompanied by the tolling of the Montanina, the tower bell that today rings only on extraordinary occasions (for the liberation of Florence in '44 and at the passage of the new millennium). It was indeed necessary to wait for the enlightened Pietro Leopoldodi Lorena, who in 1786 with a great bonfire of the instruments of torture put an end, first in Europe, to capital punishment. But it was mainly thanks to the persistence of a group of passionate devotees of Dante and Giotto who wanted to find Giotto's fresco of Dante's face covered by layers of lime, that in the 1840s research began until the frescoes were eventually found. And with the transfer in 1857 of all prisons to the former Convent of the Murate, the Bargello also underwent restoration. When Florence became the capital of the new kingdom of the three centuries of torture and pain there was no longer a trace: the great mullioned window on Piazza San Firenze had been reopened, the Salone delle Udienze recovered, so had the Chapel and the Verone, built in the 1300s, thanks to the proceeds of gambling fines finally reopened. So the Bargello became a museum: the occasion was the exhibition dedicated to the sixth centenary of Dante whose portrait stood out in the Magdalene Chapel. And then the exhibition dedicated to Donatello in 1886 for the fifth anniversary of his birth and Louis Carrand's bequest the following year, to which were then added the Franchetti, Ressman and Bruzichelli donations transformed the Bargello into the precious casket we admire today. And we have only to visit it.

First Floor of the museum

It is worth climbing the 14th-century staircase by Neri di Fioravante that leads up to the Verone where we are greeted by Giambologna's bronze birds and a late 16th-century marble sculpture by his pupil Francavilla. It is worth pausing in front of the Turkey that the great Flemish mannerist made in bronze in the second half of the 1500s, thus also making it very famous. The animal, originally from America was still almost unknown.

And here we are in the restored Salone di Donatello where the most important sculptures of the artist who will initiate Renaissance art are preserved. And here we can see its stylistic evolution starting with the first David , in marble, which he probably made for a spur of the Duomo around 1408 and which, however, immediately entered the collection of Palazzo Vecchio, with a few modifications that Donatello made making it more civic than liturgical. The David was in fact the emblem of civic freedom. But it is still anchored in the Gothic style. It was in fact with the slightly later (1416) San Giorgio, commissioned by the Arte dei Corazzai e Spadai who owned a niche outside Orsanmichele that Donatello inaugurated the Renaissance season. We can see this in the twisting of the body, which follows the principles of classical contrapposto art (which Donatello was able to study in Rome where he accompanied his friend Brunelleschi), in the naturalness of the figure, which is imagined well despite the armor, and the proud expression of the face, which moreover will inspire Michelangelo greatly for his David, that make us understand that something, much, has changed. And it is especially in the predella, where the artist applies scientific perspective, complete with vanishing point, and emphasizes it using the ancient technique of stiacciato that a new era opens up. Donatello does not just copy ancient techniques but bends them to new concepts. And since Brunelleschi was mentioned how can we not compare his tile with the Sacrifice of Isaac with the similar one by Ghiberti. It is 1401 and the Arte di Calimala is holding a competition for the second bronze door of the Baptistery (the first had been made by Andrea Pisano some sixty years earlier). The only limit imposed: respect the polylobate shape, in clear Gothic style, of the tile. Competing for the final outcome will be Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. The latter will lose although more innovative. Indeed, he introduces the vanishing point and the immanence of action: the angel blocking Abraham's hand, which many years later Caravaggio would also do. But the tile by Ghiberti, an experienced goldsmith, not only pleases more because it is more graceful but also turns out to be much less expensive. In fact, Ghiberti ensures that he uses less bronze. But it will also be Brunelleschi's good fortune that disappointed he will leave for Rome where he will draw heavily from classical art. His friend Donatello meanwhile is increasingly famous. And among his most famous works, in addition to the mysterious Atis (or Mercury, since he has winged feet?)Stands perhaps the most beautiful work: the bronze David. Commissioned from him by Cosimo the Elder in 1440it made a fine display in the courtyard of the Medici Palace until with the Medici's ouster it was brought to the Palazzo della Signoria. It is the first modern work of nude in the round. A choice to highlight humility and courage. Inspired of course by Roman art. Donatello's David is echoed by the smarmy teenager who shows himself instead with boldness after the heroic act. It is the work commissioned by Piero il Gottoso from Verrocchio. The bronze was later sold to the Signoria by the brothers Lorenzo and Giuliano. And Verrocchio thus had to move, for reasons of space, the Goliath's head in front of the young man's feet. Not to be missed, in addition to the caissons and the bust of Niccolò da Uzzano recently attributed to Desiderio da Settignano, is Bertoldo di Giovanni's bas-relief with the Battle between Romans and Barbarians. Donatello's pupil and head of the Garden of San Marco clearly inspired his young pupil Michelangelo.

Bronzes, ivories and Carrand collection

As we leave the Donatello Hall, we are greeted by the intimate and soft atmosphere of the Islamic Room, where the precious carpets from the Franchetti Collection are housed and where a number of bronzes and ivories of Islamic and Oriental origin stand out, including an ebony casket with semi-precious stones and silver. But one must enter the adjoining Carrand Room to lose oneself in the beauty of the objects on display. The bust of Louis Carrand does the honors. Together with his father, wealthy merchants and collectors from Lyon, they moved to Nice and from there expatriated, due to political disagreements, to Italy, first to Pisa and then to Florence. Louis would leave his valuable collection of more than 3,300 pieces of decorative art to the museum. A unique legacy and one that has brought the Bargello up to the level of far better-stocked museums such as the Victoria & Albert and the Cluny. Each object of the rest is more unique than rare. But among the most valuable items is surely Agilulf's famous gilded copper foil. The plaque dating from the 6th-7th centuries decorated the helmet of the Lombard king. So equally valuable are the gilded bronze aquamaniles. One in particular with St. George and the dragon, from the 15th century, is striking for the agility of the little figure and the power of the horse. The aquamanili were used for washing fingers before and after a meal. Beautiful then is the 16th-century embroidered leather scarsella. Before entering the Hall of Ivories, however, we find the Magdalene Chapel with the Paradise where Dante is depicted restored for the 700th anniversary of his death in 2021. On the walls are the stories of St. John, Mary Magdalene and St. Mary of Egypt, characters expressing penitents, while in the center stands a splendid inlaid Olivetan Badalone that was used for liturgical chants. But it is in the adjoining Hall of Ivories that we encounter truly unique pieces such as the liturgical flail from the time of Charles the Bald (9th century) that has come down to us virtually intact. It is rightly considered unique. In painted parchment it is also fitted with a carved bone handle. And also a splendid Chessboard in ivory and ebony and the Pastoral Hedgehog thought to have belonged to St. Ivo, abbot of Saint Quentin de Beauvais and later bishop of Chartres. Also of rare beauty is the Oliphant, a kind of hunting horn, but one that was played during Holy Week when bells could not be used. Of Norwegian origin from the 13th century, it is carved from a walrus tusk and finely historiated. Among the paintings on display, one cannot fail to admire the Money Changer with his wife of Dutch Reformed art in which the greed of the two is detailed in the Flemish manner. It is time to go up one more floor and admire the glazed terracottas of the Della Robbia and Buglione families.

Second floor of the museum

Eccoci subito nella Sala di Giovanni della Robbia. Figlio di Andrea e nipote di Luca (le cui opere, compresa la piccola Madonna della mela sono nella sala di Donatello) è anche l'ultimo esponente di una famiglia di scultori e poi ceramisti divenuti famosi grazie alla tecnica dell'invetriatura della maiolica. La procedura non del tutto nota (la formula spiata dai Buglioni non è stata mai chiarita) consisteva nel ripassare a temperatura altissima il manufatto. Con l'invetriatura le ceramiche diventavano molto resistenti e potevano essere realizzate anche per esterni. Con i Della Robbia si entra però anche nella modernità. Viene infatti introdotta la manifattura seriale: il calco preparatorio poteva essere riusato varie volte, così da produrre pezzi in serie. Col risultato di abbassare i costi e allargare la sfera degli acquirenti. Col passare degli anni al bianco e blu di Luca si aggiungono più colori fino alle sgargianti ceramiche di Giovanni e dei Buglioni. Attraverso la saletta dedicata ad Andrea della Robbia e ai suoi delicati ritratti si accede alla Sala del Verrocchio e della scultura tardo quattrocentesca dove possiamo vedere come erano davvero i personaggi che hanno segnato parte della storia. Tanti i busti-ritratto. Oltre a Verrocchio, con la sua Dama col mazzolino molto probabilmente la Lucrezia Donati dama ispiratrice del Magnifico, il busto funebre di Battista Sforza duchessa di Urbino di Francesco Laurana, il mercante Piero Mellini di Benedetto da Maiano e Antonio Palmieri di Antonio Rossellino. E non ultimi il Francesco Sassetti della bottega di Verrocchio, il giovane in armatura da giostra di Antonio del Pollaiolo e infine Piero il Gottoso di Mino da Fiesole. La carrellata dei personaggi illustri è terminata ed è tempo di tornare nel cortile ed entrare nel '500. Ma non prima di aver visitato la bellissima Sala dei Bronzetti la cui apertura viene alternata alla vicina e ricca Sala delle Armi. Purtroppo è chiusa la sala delle medaglie dove è conservata anche quella celebrativa della Congiura dei Pazzi a opera di Bertoldo di Giovanni.

Cortile and sala di Michelangelo

We descend the internal staircase and arrive in the Courtyard, now a pleasant and relaxing space where we can pause. And even here there is no shortage of great works of art such as, for example, the Fountain of the Great Hall that Bartolomeo Ammannati never completed. The complex of allegorical statues with the Arno, Juno, Temperance and even the Fountain of Parnassus was supposed to decorate a wall of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio but never got there.

In compensation it was first taken to Pratolino and then reassembled as the Fountain at the Pitti Palace on the occasion of Ferdinand I's wedding and then again dispersed here and there until it was finally reassembled in the museum's Cortile in 2011, on the occasion of the exhibition for the fifth centenary of the artist's birth. It is nevertheless considered the masterpiece of the artist follower of Michelangelo and author of, among other things, the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza Signoria. And before entering Michelangelo's hall, it is worth pausing, turning your back to the well that replaces the ancient gallows, in front of the great bronze Cannon of St. Paul commissioned by Ferdinand II from Cosimo Cenni and destined for the Livorno Fortress. But it is the only one of a battery that should have numbered as many as twelve and was never made. The name comes from the saint's head depicted on the breech, while the shaft is decorated with the Medici coat of arms and the allegorical figures of Justice and Strength. And as for strength, he seems to have it to spare, the giant statue depicting Oceano that was commissioned from Giambologna by Cosimo I for a fountain. And in fact until the early 1900s it towered at the apex of the great Fontana dell'Isolotto in Pitti. So here we are in the grand hall where upon entering on the right wall is a Madonna and Child that some scholars think might have been part of the fresco complex of the Magdalene Chapel. But it is Michelangelo's statues that first catch the eye. Not least because they are his most youthful works. In particular the Pitti Tondo and the Bacchus.

For the latter, luck would have it that Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who had commissioned the statue in 1496 upon Michelangelo's arrival in Rome, did not appreciate its precarious balance of a decidedly drunken Bacchus. So he sold it to the banker Jacopo Galli, who then sold it to the Medici in 1570. And it was precisely that precarious balance of the Bacchus that fascinated Vasari, who praised its moving beyond classical art toward the tormented movement that would later characterize the artist's mature art. And he seems to measure himself against Donatello when he makes, on behalf of the merchant Bartolomeo Pitti and in the aftermath of the successes of the David, the tondo depicting the Madonna and Child. Here in fact Michelangelo intervenes by playing and with stiacciato in the barely sketched figure of the San Giovannino and with perspective by alternating perfectly polished parts with decidedly rough ones. It did not bring Baccio Valori luck, on the other hand, the Apollo-David that the condottiere of the papal troops commissioned from Michelangelo in order to give it to the Medici and thus make up for his betrayal for having passed, on the death of the first duke Alessandro, as a follower of the Republic. In reality the work would reach the Medici but with the confiscation of Valori's property, who in the meantime had him beheaded by Cosimo I. However, the work is somewhat ambiguous: is it an Apollo unleashing an arrow or in a David cocking a sling? The triumph of the unfinished leaves the rebus unresolved. While the physiognomy of the Tuscan Brute is very clear. Commissioned from Michelangelo by Donato Giannotti as fierce anti-Medicean republican as the artist himself, the Brute would be that Lorenzino who kills his cousin Alexander and would reopen the republican hopes of anti-Medicean Florentines. Clearly celebratory, on the other hand, are the busts of Cosimo I made by Baccio Bandinelli, the most popular and by Benvenuto Cellini the one most criticized by the grand duke. But by the great goldsmith, sculptor and writer long in the service of and King Francis I of France and Grand Duke Cosimo I at the Bargello is preserved the original base of the Perseus whose statue was made at Cosimo's own behest for the Loggia dei Lanzi and where it still stands in original. The bronzes with allegories related to Perseus allude to the defeat of enemies in the name of virtue and divine justice. Not surprisingly, the head of Perseus resembles Cosimo's face. And among the most valuable works, one cannot fail to admire Giambologna's Flying Mercury. This is one of the Flemish artist's most prized works and he completed it around 1580 both for the agility of its movements and for the casting technique that required a certain skill. The artist who is considered the first Mannerist sculptor not only succeeded in Florence in creating a talented workshop including Pietro Tacca, Antonio Susini, and Pietro Francavilla, but also in making it clear that the search was by no means over with Michelangelo and that sculpture could go beyond Buonarroti himself, as Gian Lorenzo Bernini would soon prove. Of the Baroque artist the Bargello has the intense portrait of Costanza Bonarelli. Wife of one of Bernini's collaborators, mistress first to Gian Lorenzo and then to his brother Luigi she will be made a scar by the jealous artist. She has an intense and sensual expression. The portrait was for private use, beautiful but also as a perpetual stain that marks if not the art the consideration of the man Bernini. Obviously in our eyes since the artist got off with a small fine.

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