THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BARGELLO

 

As numismatists I suspect all of us visit museums when we travel, with the not-so-secret hope of stumbling across an exhibit of the stuff that interests us. Most of the time we are disappointed in that quest – and even when a museum does have some coins or medals on display, they are usually poorly lit, placed at angles that make it difficult to view, and have little in the way of descriptive text to accompany. There are, of course, major exceptions to this, including such well-known institutions as the Smithsonian, the British Museum, the Paris Money Museum, and others which clearly understand the importance of numismatics and, quite often, do an exceptional job of integrating their numismatic treasures with their other collections (the British Museum perhaps doing this better than any other, as not only do they have a large room devoted to numismatics, when wandering through the many other rooms you will often find coins and medals displayed in contexts that add to our understanding of a particular era or region).

I recently spent a couple weeks in Tuscany, and got to the marvelous city of Florence a few times. This cradle of the Renaissance is well-known for the sheer volume of first-rate art it houses in its many museums and churches. Many thousands of people line up every day to see Michelangelo's statue of David, and wander the vast halls of the Ufizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace. Add in a trip to the Duomo, the Basilica, and a few other churches holding notable paintings and sculptures, and the average tourist is soon arted out – that moment where one's eyes glaze over and you walk past something that would be one of the highlights of any museum collection anywhere else in the world, and it barely registers. Such was the case with my first visit to this city 20-odd years ago, when I hit most of the must-see venues. But I'm not a big fan of repeats, so on this trip I decided to focus on museums that I had not yet seen.

One of those was the National Museum of Bargello (Museo Nazionale del Bargello), housed in one of the oldest buildings in all of Florence, a palace dating from the mid-1200s, Most famous perhaps for its collection of statues by Donatello (including two versions of David that are strikingly different from Michelangelo's work), the museum also houses ceramics, tapestries, and some ivory sculptures. But, to my joy, it also had a vast numismatic collection – and displayed it with a typical Italian flair.

 

There are nearly 15,000 coins in the Bargello's collection, about half of them Italian, with a special focus on those issued by the mints in Tuscany – Arezzo, Berignone, Florence, Lucca, Montalcino, Pisa, Volterrs and Siena; the Florence mint was particularly well represented, especially with coins issued under Medici rule, and the collection is quite rich in silver and gold issues. The overall quality of the collection was astounding, and it is quite likely that many of the pieces were actually in the cabinets of the Medici family; many of the coins on display were donated by Prince Ginori Conti, a patron the arts, industrialist, and one of the richest men in Tuscany in part thanks to a fortuitous marriage. The coins on display take up three large, well-lit cases, obviously just a small fraction of what the museum holds. Images do not seem to be available online as of yet, but hopefully these will be photographed and shared with the world – even if you don't collect in this area (as I do not), you will enjoy viewing!

Those three cases would likely be enough for a quick numismatic fix, but the Bargello offers still more. It's collection of medals is one of the most important in the world, with about 10,000 pieces coming from the grand ducal collection which, for 300 years, was the Medici family. Thousands of other medals have been added to this collection from various sources, and they are housed in a room that was built specifically for the purpose, with both well-lit, eye-level display cases and vertical free-standing clear cases that allow you to see both sides of the medal by simply walking around to the other side.

 

The number of gold medals on display, also just a small fraction of the number held by the Bargello, reminds you that the relatively small city of Florence was once one of the richest and most powerful in the world. For medal lovers this room may well be their mecca, displaying some of the finest Renaissance medals in existence including casts by Pisanello and the small bronze works in the shape of medals made by Franceso de Sangello. A selection of papal medals includes some of Benvenuto Cellin's original dies, and there were medals featuring artists and writers, as well as Tuscan issues in fine Baroque style. But the highlight of course are the medals made for the Medici, who not only commissioned some of the finest painting and sculpture the world has ever seen, but also commemorated their dynasty with a vast array of medals, raising their issue to the same high level of art.

The Bargello is only a short walk from the crowded Duomo area of Florence, yet while you could not buy a ticket to see the David statue or climb the stairs to the top of the Duomo without booking weeks or even months in advance, there was no line to get in to the Bargello, and the crowd was small enough that you could take your time view at your leisure. For the numismatist who travels to Italy, do make sure this museum is high on your lists of things to see!

 

To visit the museum's website, see:
MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL BARGELLO (https://bargellomusei.it/en/museum/museo-nazionale-del-bargello/)

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