Product Code Database
The Bargello, also known as the i=no or i=no ("Palace of the People"), is a former public building and police headquarters, later a prison, in Florence, Italy. Mostly built in the 13th century, since 1865 it has housed the i=no, a national art museum.
It is the primary national collection for Italian Renaissance sculpture, of which its collection of Florentine works is unequalled, and for the decorative arts of Florence, especially from the Renaissance period. There are also works from earlier and later periods.
The medieval building is relatively well preserved, and includes the Cappella della Maddalena (Magdalen Chapel) with extensive but damaged by Giotto, including a full-length portrait of Dante.
In 2023 it was the 12th most visited museum in Italy, with 610,203 visitors; Government statistics. This for the "Musei del Bargello", including the other four museums (eg the Medici Chapels) administered with it. But many of the other top "museums" in the list are archaeological sites such as Pompeii. it generally lacks the long queues to enter the Uffizi.
It was employed as a prison; executions took place in the Bargello's courtyard until they were abolished by Grand Duke Peter Leopold in 1786, but it remained the headquarters of the Florentine police until 1859. After an interval, it then became a national museum.
The original two-storey structure was built alongside the Volognana Tower in 1256. The third storey, which can be identified by the smaller blocks used to construct it, was added after the fire of 1323. The building is designed around an open courtyard dating from 1280-1285. An external staircase leading to the second floor was added between 1345-1367 under master builder Neri di Fioravante. An open well is found in the centre of the courtyard.
After centuries of modifications to its architecture, the building was restored to its original form between 1858 and 1865. The Bargello opened as a national museum ( Museo Nazionale del Bargello) in 1865, displaying the largest Italian collection of Gothic art and Renaissance sculptures (14–17th century). Administratively, the museum heads a group, the Musei del Bargello, with four smaller museums in Florence: the Medici Chapels, Orsanmichele, Palazzo Davanzati, and Casa Martelli. Museum website
The most famous sculptures are several by both Michelangelo and Donatello. Large sculptures by Michelangelo are his Bacchus, Pitti Tondo (a Madonna and Child), Brutus and David-Apollo. A wood Crucifix attributed to his early years was acquired in 2008.
Its collection includes both Donatello's bronze and marble statues of David, as well as his Amore-Attis, Saint George, with its relief for the base of Saint George Freeing the Princess, and his heraldic Marzocco. Other sculptures include Jacopo Sansovino's Bacchus, the David and Dama col mazzolino by Andrea del Verrocchio.
Other works of sculpture include several by the Della Robbia family workshop. and by Antonio Rossellino, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Bertoldo di Giovanni, Baccio Bandinelli, and most other Florentine masters of the period. Benvenuto Cellini is represented by his bronze bust of Cosimo I.
The final phase of the Renaissance is represented by Giambologna's marble Florence Triumphant over Pisa, Architecture, The Nano Morgante, and his Mercury. The courtyard and the arcades around it have been used to display numerous reliefs and other works.
There are a few works from the Baroque period, notably Gianlorenzo Bernini's 1636-7 Bust of Costanza Bonarelli. Vincenzo Gemito's Pescatore ("fisherboy"), is a popular 19th-century sculpture.
In the decorative arts, the museum has a fine collection of ceramics, especially maiolica, textiles, tapestries, ivory, niello, , silver, armour and coins. The right-hand panel of the Anglo-Saxon bone Franks Casket is in the museum. Some of these are of international importance: the Italian nielli are arguably the best collection in the world, as is the collection of Italian Renaissance medals. The Bargello style of needlework has no actual connection with the museum, except that the best collection of early examples is there.
The Islamic Hall at the Bargello was set up in 1982 by Marco Spallanzani and Giovanni Curatola at the direction of Paola Barocchi and Giovanna Gaeta Bertelà, then the director.
Collection
Sculpture
There is a good selection of medieval sculpture. The museum has both the modelli of the finalists' designs for The Sacrifice of Isaac ( Sacrificio di Isacco), for the contest for the second set of doors of the Florence Baptistery in 1401. That by Lorenzo Ghiberti won, with Filippo Brunelleschi's the runner-up.
Other
The museum has a number of paintings, though nothing like the primary Florentine collection in the Uffizi, including the eponymous work by the 15th-century Master of the Bargello Tondo, and many painted cassoni (wedding chests) and desci da parto (painted birthing trays).
See also
External links
|
|
