Bargello National Museum

The Bargello National Museum is a place of extraordinary interest. The evocative medieval building houses a unique collection of Italian sculpture, mainly from the Renaissance period (masterpieces by Donatello, Michelangelo, Verrocchio, Della Robbia), but also from the Mannerist and Baroque periods.

The fascinating Medieval building was built starting in 1255 as the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo; during the Medici era it became the seat of the Bargello (Chief of the guards who presided over public order) and was later turned into a prison. In the 19th century, following a philological restoration, the palazzo was turned into a museum: the first national museum of the unified state.

On the ground floor, next to the splendid courtyard, is the 16th century hall with a series of sculptures by Michelangelo (Bacchus, Tondo Pitti, Brutus and David-Apollo) and works by Sansovino, Giambologna and Cellini. The 13th-century hall on the first floor houses masterpieces by Donatello, including the David and St George, and sculptors from the early Florentine Renaissance (Luca della Robbia and Desiderio da Settignano); the two versions (by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi) of the Sacrifice of Isaac, made for the competition (1401) for the second door of the Baptistery, are also on display here. On the second floor are Tuscan sculptures from the second half of the 15th century, including Verrocchio's famous Lady with the Mazzolino, as well as works by Rossellino, Pollaiolo and others. A small Baroque masterpiece is the bust of Costanza Bonarelli by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The Giottesque fresco cycle in the Cappella del Podestà features one of the oldest portraits of Dante Alighieri. The museum's collections include an important collection (‘Carrand Collection’) of Gothic and Renaissance minor art (ivories, gold, ceramics, weapons, bronzes and medals), as well as a complete panorama of Italian majolica from the 15th century onwards. Also noteworthy are the rooms dedicated to the glazed terracottas of the Della Robbia family and the new Islamic Gallery, recently reorganized with the Majolica Room.