Bargello

When the Guelphs beat the Ghibellines in Figline in 1250, they created the office of Captain of the Popolo and needed a new building to go with it. The area where they placed it (the Bargello) used to be the private property of several families. The Boscoli family sold the Bargello’s tower (also known as the Volognana) to the city in 1254 and was exiled in 1268. (They returned in 1280 and resided in Florence until they were banished again in 1513 for their opposition to the Medici.) In 1255 these properties were repurposed and converted into the Palace of the Captain of the Popolo (a kind of police chief and jail warden).

In 1261, it became the residence of the podestà. Part of the Volognana served as a jail in the 14th and 15th centuries before that role was largely taken over by the Stinche. Though 57m/187ft high, this tower was exempt from being reduced in 1250 because it already belonged to the city and no longer to a private family. In 1574, it was transformed into the palace of the Captain of the Piazza (the Minister of Justice), known also as the Bargello, and it is from this role that the national museum gets its modern name.

It was not uncommon for judges to hand down an unusual sentence. Those guilty of certain crimes would be caricatured on the Bargello’s external walls. They were often shown hanging upside down or with a miter on their heads and a little word bubble next to them announcing something unrepeatable. For those depicted in this way, these drawings were a terrible source of ignominy. As late as the 18th century, some of the degrading sketches were still partially visible.

Inside the Bargello is the famous Giottesque portrait of Dante that was discovered in 1840.

On the corner of Via Ghibellina, you should notice this plaque (below) before it’s gone. It’s an official notice from the Otto di Guardia e Balia (the cops) from January of 1771 reminding everyone that it’s illegal to stack wood here or to light fires in this spot.