The Bargello National Museum
You can reach the Bargello Museum from the square of the Duomo (cathedral). From the back of the cathedral, go down Via del Proconsolo. It stands opposite the Badia Fiorentina.
Address: 4 Via del Proconsolo.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8:15–18:50. Closed on Monday.
Admission: €12. Reservation possible (fee of €3).
This 13th-century palace housed the podestà, that is, the elected magistrate (always a foreigner) entrusted with executive and judicial powers. Those condemned to death were executed in the courtyard of the Bargello. In the 16th century, the palace became a prison under the authority of the chief of police called the Barigel, hence the name of the museum.
The courtyard is a magnificent achievement of medieval architecture, surrounded on 3 sides by a peristyle with solid columns and a staircase leading to the loggia.
On the first floor you will find the works of the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance. Compare Donatello's David, with its pensive expression, with that of Verrocchio, with its triumphant bearing.
The other rooms are just as worthy of interest: rooms of Islamic art, of ivories, of della Robbia terracottas.
In the Santa Maria di Maddalena chapel, the frescoes are by the school of Giotto.
