Walking down Florence’s narrow Via del Proconsolo, I had flashbacks to my first semester of graduate school and an art history class I took on early Renaissance sculpture in Florence. With images of the ingenious and beautiful works of Andrea del Verrocchio and Donatello floating through my head, I made my way down the busy street, dodging scooters and busy Florentines on their way to work.  

Photo Credit Ciao Amalfi

Then I spotted it. The crenellated tower of the grand palazzo that is now home to the Museo del Bargello (pronounced bar-JEL-oh). This imposing fortress, once called the Palazzo del Popolo,was constructed in 1255 as the seat of the government for medieval Florence.It is now the perfect setting for one of Florence’s most important and charming museums. I promised myself many years ago during that art history course I would visit the Bargello Museum some day where so many of the important works I studied were housed. And finally it was time to walk through the front doors!

Photo credit Ciao Amalfi

Entering the Museo del Bargello feels like stepping into a medieval palazzo. After buying your entrance ticket (a modest €4.00 at time of writing), you first enter a beautiful courtyard lined with sculptural works. It’s the first taste that you’ve stepped inside Italy’s finest collection of Renaissance sculpture.The museum’s highlights are located in the ground floor gallery accessed from the courtyard and a gallery located just above on the first floor.  

Photo Credit Ciao Amalfi

Florence is home to more than Michelangelo’s famous David at the Galleriadell’Accademia,and at the Bargello  Museum you will find some of his important early works. Don’t miss the remarkable, larger than life size marble sculpture of Drunken Bacchus, which Michelangelo completed when he was only 22. Upstairs you’ll find some of the sculptural works that launched the Renaissance, including Donatello’s famous bronze sculpture of David with the Head of Goliath (c. 1430–40) and the bronze panels by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi for the 1401 contest to design the new doors for Florence’s Baptistery. Don’t miss the side room with important works by the Renaissance sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio, and take the chance to compare his bronze sculpture of David(c. 1470). 

Photo Credit Ciao Amalfi

Before leaving, I returned to the peaceful courtyard and sat down on one of the benches. Surrounded by such beautiful artwork, in the magical setting of Florence, I enjoyed one of those sweet moments in life when one of my travel dreams came true.  
 

Museo del Bargello

Via del Proconsolo,4

Tel. +39 0552388-606

Monday to Sunday:8:15 – 13:50

Closed the 1st, 3rd & 5th Sunday and the 2nd & 4th Monday each month. 

From April 3rd to July 12th: 8.15 – 17:00

Closed the 2nd & 4th Monday each month. 

Laura Thayer is an art historian and freelance writer living on the Amalfi Coast in Campania,Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI travel insurance and blogs about life on the Amalfi Coast at her own site Ciao Amalfi.