The Donatello Hall of the National Museum of the Bargello reopened today, after nearly a year of restoration work, once again displaying to visitors the masterpieces of Renaissance sculpture it houses. With its 445 square meters, this room stands as the centrepiece of the Bargello Museum.
Nine masterpieces by Donatello reside here: the marble David, Saint George, Marzocco, the famous bronze David, Amore-Attis, Putto Danzante, Crucifixion, Head of a Bearded Man, and the Madonna of Via Pietrapiana. These are joined by other works either partially by Donatello or made in his workshop and works by other founding fathers of the Florentine Renaissance: Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, whose panels from the famous 1401 competition for the North Door of the Baptistery are shown. Also featured is Luca della Robbia, who invented the technique of glazed terracotta.
The project, coordinated by Director of Museums for the Ministry of Culture Massimo Osanna, was curated by Ilaria Ciseri, the museum’s lead curator. The restorations were supervised by Benedetta Cantini.
The works were particularly complex due to the need for massive scaffolding to operate in such a large and architecturally challenging space.
Ph. Nicola Neri
Ph. Nicola Neri
This intervention follows previous renovations of other important rooms in the Bargello Museum—such as the Ivory Room, the Magdalene Chapel, the Sacristy, the Medieval Sculpture Room, the Medal Cabinet, the Baroque Room, the Islamic Room, and the Maiolica Room—and is part of a larger restoration and reinstallation program launched in recent years by former director Paola D’Agostino across the five locations of the Bargello Museums.
One key change is the repositioning of Donatello’s two Davids: the bronze David now stands in the center of the room, while the marble David is placed near Saint George, allowing for a direct visual comparison highlighting Donatello’s stylistic evolution.
The Donatello Hall is part of the palace’s original core, built starting in 1255. It originally served as the Audience Hall where the council presided over by the Podestà met. This is where Dante Alighieri was sentenced to death in 1302 though they had to settle for permanent exile as the poet had already left.
The discovery in 1840 of Giotto-esque frescoes depicting Dante in the nearby Maddalena Chapel drew attention to the deteriorating palace and sparked a major restoration campaign. Works began in 1858, led by architect Francesco Mazzei, and were completed in 1865, just in time for the palace to be inaugurated as Italy’s first National Museum, the same year Florence became capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
The room we now call The Donatello Hall was initially known as the “Grand Hall”, and once hosted celebrated 16th-century sculptures, including works by Michelangelo, Giambologna, Vincenzo Danti, as well as Donatello’s marble David. In 1886, an exhibition was organised for the 500th anniversary of Donatello’s birth, leading to the hall’s renaming in his honour.
“The Donatello Hall,” says Massimo Osanna, “is, in every sense, the temple of 15th-century Italian sculpture: a place that houses extraordinary masterpieces, representing one of the most crucial moments in the history of Italian art. Its reopening after significant restoration and renovation brings back to the public a space of exceptional architectural value and a renewed, accessible exhibition layout.”
