Tour n° 10: Bargello National Museum

Bargello National Museum

The oldest public palace in Florence. Its construction was begun in 1255 as the seat of the Capitano del Popolo, but it was also the seat of the Podestà and by the 16th century, during the Medici era, it became the seat of the Giudici di ruota (wheel judges), a prison and then the seat of the Bargello, a sort of police chief, i.e. this became the place where criminal justice was administered in Florence.

It was during this period that the palace underwent the greatest changes: the 14th-century frescoes were covered over, the arches of the loggia were closed, many of the large rooms were subdivided into small cells, to better adapt the building to its new function.

It was only in the late 19th century, when the prison was dismantled and moved elsewhere, that lengthy restoration work began, recovering rooms of extraordinary importance, such as the Magdalene Chapel, and restoring the building to all its former majesty and beauty. And it was from this moment that the transformation of the Bargello into a museum proper began.

Initially dedicated to 15th-century Florentine Renaissance sculpture, which had in Donatello the artist best represented here (it is here that one can admire his two Davids, Saint George the Love-Attis and much more), the Bargello has seen numerous sculptures by Andrea del Verrocchio, glazed terracottas by Luca della Robbia, and works by Pollaiolo, Michelangelo Buonarroti (The Bacchus, Brutus, The Pitti Tondo and more), Benvenuto Cellini (The Narcissus, Cosimo I.. .) Giambologna (The Mercury), and others.

Over time, thanks to private donations (Carrand) or from public institutions, the Bargello has been enriched with many masterpieces of minor arts, textiles, ivories, bronzes, majolica, coins, jewellery, and much more that make this museum one of the most interesting stops in our city.