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The Bargello: Donatello, Michelangelo and the sculpture of Florence

The Bargello was built from 1255 as the seat of the city's chief magistrate, and later became the headquarters of the police and a prison. Since 1865 it has held the best collection of Renaissance sculpture anywhere.

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Tickets
From €18.75
Open
Tue to Sun, 8:15 to 18:50
Closed
Mondays
Allow
1 to 1½ hours

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    What to see at the Bargello

    1. Donatello's two Davids and Saint George

      The early marble David, the famous bronze one of about 1440, and the Saint George made for a niche of Orsanmichele, alert and frowning behind his shield.

    2. The competition panels

      In 1401 Florence held a contest for the doors of the baptistery. The two bronze reliefs of the Sacrifice of Isaac that Ghiberti and Brunelleschi entered hang side by side. Ghiberti won, and Brunelleschi turned to architecture.

    3. The Michelangelo room

      On the ground floor: the Bacchus he carved at twenty-one, unsteady on his feet, the round relief of the Pitti Tondo and the bust of Brutus, his only one.

    4. Giambologna's Mercury

      The messenger of the gods balanced on one foot on a puff of wind, in bronze. It has been copied more often than almost any statue of its century.

    5. Verrocchio and the della Robbia

      Verrocchio's bronze David, slight and smiling, for which the young Leonardo is said to have posed, and rooms of blue and white glazed terracotta by Luca and Andrea della Robbia.

    6. The courtyard and the chapel

      Condemned prisoners spent their last night in the chapel on the first floor. A fresco there includes a portrait long held to be Dante's, painted in the workshop of Giotto.

    Tickets and tours for the Bargello

    • Sold by GetYourGuide

      Florence: Reserved Entry Ticket to Bargello Museum

      Reserved entry to the Bargello National Museum on the day you choose.

      Included

      • Reserved entry to the Bargello National Museum

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      €18.75

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    Visiting the Bargello: hours and admission

    Opening hours

    Tuesday to Sunday
    8:15 to 18:50
    • Closed every Monday.
    • Last entry is 50 minutes before closing.
    • The museum opens on some Monday evenings. In October 2026 these were the 12th, 19th and 26th, from 17:00 to 21:00.

    Who gets in free

    • The museum says that free and reduced entry follow the national rules for state museums.

    Getting there

    On foot
    About fifteen minutes from Santa Maria Novella station. Five minutes from the Duomo and from Piazza della Signoria.
    Tram
    Lines T1 and T2 stop at Santa Maria Novella station. T2 comes from the airport.
    By car
    The old centre is a restricted traffic zone, watched by cameras. Leave the car outside it.

    Address

    Museo Nazionale del Bargello
    Via del Proconsolo 4
    50122 Florence, Italy

    Entrances

    The entrance is at Via del Proconsolo 4, on the street between the Duomo and Piazza San Firenze.

    On the map

    Before you go

    • The museum is closed on Mondays. Check the hours for the day: they have changed several times in recent years.
    • An hour and a quarter covers the Michelangelo room, the courtyard and the Donatello hall. The upper floors hold ivories, arms and small bronzes.
    • A combined ticket with the Accademia is sold and is worth it if you mean to see both.
    • This is the museum to choose on a day when the Uffizi and the Accademia are full. There is seldom a queue.
    • Dante's quarter, with the house said to be his, is two minutes' walk behind the museum.

    From magistrates' court to museum of sculpture

    The building is the oldest seat of government in Florence, older than the Palazzo Vecchio. Its courtyard, with an open stair and walls covered in the stone coats of arms of the magistrates, is one of the handsomest in the city. The captain of the police, the bargello, gave it his name.

    It opened in 1865 as the first national museum of the new Kingdom of Italy. The sculpture of the Medici collections was moved here from the Uffizi, and what you see is the history of the art in Florence from about 1400 to 1600, told through the works that made it.

    The first-floor hall belongs to Donatello. His bronze David, a boy in a hat and boots and nothing else, was the first free-standing nude statue made since antiquity. Fifty years separate it from the Michelangelos downstairs, and you can see what changed.

    Bargello National Museum: common questions

    What are the opening hours of the Bargello?
    Tuesday to Sunday: 8:15 to 18:50. Closed every Monday. Last entry is 50 minutes before closing. The museum opens on some Monday evenings. In October 2026 these were the 12th, 19th and 26th, from 17:00 to 21:00.
    Is the Bargello ever free?
    The museum says that free and reduced entry follow the national rules for state museums.
    What does the ticket include?
    Reserved entry to the Bargello National Museum. It is sold by GetYourGuide.
    What is the Bargello famous for?
    Renaissance sculpture. It has Donatello's bronze David and Saint George, Michelangelo's Bacchus, Verrocchio's David, Giambologna's Mercury and the two panels from the competition of 1401 for the baptistery doors.
    Is the Bargello worth visiting?
    Yes, and it is the least crowded of the great museums of Florence. If you have seen the David at the Accademia, this is where to see what came before it.
    How long does the Bargello take?
    An hour to an hour and a half for the main rooms on the ground and first floors.

    What visitors say about the Bargello

    Rating from Google

    4.7

    9,253 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 11 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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