The Bargello National Museum is located in the medieval palace built for the Captain of the People, which in the Medici age became the headquarters of the Bargello (the chief of police), serving also as a prison.
In the 19th century the palace was restored and turned into a museum, mainly of Renaissance sculpture. The Sala del Cinquecento on the ground floor houses four statues by Michelangelo and other works by Sansovino, Giambologna and Cellini. In the large 13th-century hall on the first floor there are works by Donatello, including his David and Saint George, and sculptures from the Early Florentine Renaissance: the trial reliefs depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac produced by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti for the competition for the second set of Baptistery doors, and works by Luca della Robbia and Desiderio da Settignano. The second floor houses Tuscan sculptures from the second half of the 15th century, including Verrocchio’s celebrated Young Lady with Flowers and works by Rossellino, Pollaiolo and others. In the chapel there is a cycle of Giottoesque frescoes with a portrait of Dante.
The museum also holds a substantial collection of Gothic and Renaissance decorative arts (ivories, jewellery, ceramics, arms, small bronzes and medals), plus a comprehensive range of Italian majolica ware from the 15th century onwards; the glazed terracottas by the Della Robbias are particularly worth seeing.
Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Via del Proconsolo, 4, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia
The museum is equipped with access devices for people with disabilities. Please ask our staff to access the elevator from the ground floor. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms are located on the second floor. Raised thresholds are mediated by means of ramps: if some are too steep for you, please ask our staff for help. The Michelangelo Room (Sala di Michelangelo) can be accessed from the bookshop.
Blind people are invited to contact the museum office (+39 055 0649440) to be informed about special tours. To be able to touch the sculptures and appreciate the volumes of the works, a pair of gloves made of cotton or lattex will be provided.
