Florence Travel Guide

The Bargello (Museo Nazionale del Bargello)

This Gothic Palazzo shelters a treasured national collection of Renaissance sculpture. Before its renovation to become Italy's first national museum, the building, constructed in 1255, functioned as a town hall, private residence and prison. An extensive collection of decorative art is on display, in addition to the magnificent sculptures of Michelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna and Cellini. The Palazzo's inner courtyard is ornamented with numerous coats of arms and the grand stairwell leading to the second-story overflows with bronze birds created for the Medici's gardens. Other notable displays include an Islamic collection, an assortment of ivories (the largest collection in the world) and 16th-century majolica porcelain from Urbino, Faenza and Florence.