“What many people don’t know about the Bargello Museum is that it used to be a prison in the early 1500s. People come to see Donatello’s original statues of David because they know the history behind it. Many visitors don’t know the history of the museum,” said Emma, Firenze MVSEI Employee of four years.
The Bargello museum is a must-see attraction for art lovers and history buffs alike. The beige brick exterior is reminiscent of a castle from a fairytale, but the stories told by the countless sculptures, paintings and tapestries inside are just as compelling.
According to VisitFlorence.com, The Bargello was Built in 1255 and used as a model for the Palazzo Vecchio. It was then modified to house Florence’s first Capitano Del Polpo, or public officer. It is the oldest public building in Florence, and its intricately hand-painted, vaulted ceilings and marble floorings are proof that its aging gracefully.
The building is comprised of three levels, both of which have indoor and outdoor gallery space. The pieces I’m highlighting today are located on the first two floors. Fathers of the renaissance art movement such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna and Vincenzo De’ Rossi all have works held within the historic walls of The Bargello Museum.
The entrance to the museum is much like airport security, with a conveyor belt to place your belongings in and a security member with a metal-detecting wand. After grabbing your belongings and paying 8 euros for a ticket, head straight through the gift shop and toward the outside gallery instead of turning right to enter the indoor gallery. By pushing past the trinkets and post cards, you’ll be able to discover the gorgeous painted ceilings, carved family crests and gothic-style arches that surround the outdoor courtyard filled with comfortable negative space.
The grandest piece of art to check out after ogling at the ceilings and carved walls is Bartolomeo Ammannati’s Fountain for the Sala Grande. It’s comprised of six human figures, one arch, two peacocks, one pegasus and one lion. According to The Bargello, this marble wonder arrived at the museum in separate pieces during the 20th century, and was reassembled in 2011.
According to the Bargello, “The fountain alludes to the generation of Water from the other Elements, Air, Earth, and Fire.”
To the right of the Fountain for the Sala Grande is a bronze sculpture; Vincenzo Gemito’s Il Pescatore, which was cast in 1877.
The young man in the sculpture is crouched down, sitting on his heels as he enjoys a piece of fish. Gemito’s astounding attention to detail is shown in the boy’s toes, which grip the ground and suggest that he is on a slippery mound of earth at the shore of a riverbank.
To the right of Il Pescatore is the indoor section of the ground floor, which houses the more valuable sculptures, wax figures and paintings that are too delicate to be exposed to light.
After mulling over the various sculptures and busts, the one which stuck out to me the most was Vincenzo De’ Rossi’s marble sculpture of Dying Adonis. This specific sculpture spoke to me because of the position of the figure and the emotion on Adonis’ face.
The sculpture is completely horizontal and depicts a handsome Adonis lying down on his side after a boar deeply pierces his right thigh. The boar’s head rears up beneath Adonis’ right knee, and his facial expression and body language exude weariness. As I walked around this sculpture I was cautious to get too close because I was paranoid that Adonis would writhe in pain at any moment.
This sculpture was the highlight of my time in the indoor section of the first floor, but Swathi, an art student from Melbourne Australia, considered Giambologna’s Flying Mercury to be far more interesting.
According to the sign beneath Flying Mercury at the Bargello Museum, “The first mention of this Mercury dates back to 1580, when it was sent to decorate the fountain at the entrance to the garden of Villa Medici in Rome,”
The twenty-something year old student plopped onto the floor and in front of the Flying Mercury and pulled out a worn sketchbook from her leather tote bag. Her quick sketching and vigorous erasing caused me to prompt her about her sketch.
After asking Swathi about what she finds most interesting about the Bargello museum, she said “It was interesting to hear not just about the artists, but who they were commissioned by, and why. I think that context makes it more interesting for me.”
On the second floor of The Bargello is a handful of rooms that hold pieces with religious themes, as well as various sculptures commissioned for by the wealthy Medici Family.
This byzantine-era painting of Christ, created by an unidentified artist, depicts the Son of God with his hand in a common religious hand gesture.
According to Anatomy Professor Bennett Futterman at the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, the history behind the pope’s hand gesture could be medical rather than religious.
“Peter, the first pope, had an ulnar nerve injury and everyone copied him,” said Futterman.
Though Catholics still use a hand gesture similar to the one in the painting, other denominations have different rationale when it comes to explaining the gesture.
According to Christianity.StackExchange.com, “The fingers spell out “IC XC”, a widely used four letter abbreviation of the Greek for Jesus,”
Aside from the multiple depictions of Jesus and his hand gesture, there is an overwhelming amount of depictions of Madonna and Child, all created in different mediums, by different artists and different time periods.
In the room adjacent to the one housing the religious works are two of Donatello’s most famous sculptures; the two original statues of David.
The first statue of David visible from the religion room is Donatello’s second and most popular draft of David, cast in bronze during the 1440s.
The bronze version was commissioned by the Medici family for the Palazzo Medici. It features a fully nude, yet accessorized David adorned with a wide-brimmed hat and boots. David’s foot is victoriously stomped on top of Goliath’s head in this rendition.
Donatello’s marble version features a fully clothed David standing on both sides of Goliath’s slain head. This version was made before the bronze one, around 1408.
Aside from the different mediums and appearances of these two versions of David, the biggest difference is that the marble version was not commissioned by the Medici family.
Outside of the room that holds Donatello’s David sculptures is a final section of outside gallery space covered by painted ceilings.
In this space is Pietro Francavilla’s Jason, a marble statue carved in 1589.
Francavilla’s Jason expresses a story of victory and vanquish with its clean lines and impeccable attention to detail. The sculpture features Jason standing on top of a slain dragon while triumphantly holding up the mythical sheep with golden fleece.
This ornate sculpture against a backdrop of carefully painted ceilings and carved walls prove that The Bargello museum evolved from prison to picturesque, in the most graceful way possible.