In Florence, The Uffizi, the Academia and the Duomo have their followers and enthusiasts, but for me The Bargello is a stand out benchmark for world class sculpture and decorative art. The Bargello is one of those grand old palaces that begged to be repurposed over the centuries, rather than used as a quarry for masonry as was the Coliseum in Rome. In 1261 the building now known as the Bargello served as the Palazzo del Podestà, the oldest public building in Florence. In 1574, the Medici dispensed with the function of the Podestà and housed the bargello, the police chief of Florence, in this building, hence its name. It was employed as a prison where torture and executions took place in the Bargello’s yard until they were abolished by the Grand Duke in 1786. It remained the Florentine police headquarters of the until 1859 when it became a national museum, and today, the reason for a short, day trip to Florence on a fast train.

What can be said about a fantastic fountain where water pours from the most unlikely orifices.

Me and Brutus at the Bargello

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Booked in advance on-line to by-pass the anticipated throng. As predicted, that ploy advanced us to the head of the queue. Surprisingly, there were only three people ahead of us, but the attendant made them stand aside as we were clearly much more important guests. There were many visitors, but usually only a few other people in each room

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Ah, the Donatellos of David. The bronze of the totally naked David, with a marvellous, slightly androgynous body, wearing only a pretty hat, gazing at the head of the slain Goliath. Such is the humour of his triumph that he might equally have been wearing nothing but a pair of gumboots.

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Donatellos boy David

Then there is Donatello’s famous marble take on David. This is plainly a boy on a man’s job. Nothing at all like Michelangelo’s Hero. And the boy humbly succeeded. The Bargello also has Verrocchio’s David, also brilliantly emphasising youth, in his case more the naughty little boy than the Donatello bronze

The Donatellos were the main attraction for us, but the current temporary exhibition is a long- awaited selection sculptures of Christ by Verrocchio, the master of Michelangelo. In the crucifixion, Verrocchio portrayed Christ as a strong man in a weak body. A man who has given his all and is not broken, but totally spent. Photos allowed everywhere else, but not in these rooms. In the event a photo would have been inadequate.

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This is the place to come to see the giddy heights to which the decorative arts can rise. The decoration of the massive St Paul’s cannon is surely over the top. Was this cannon something like the elegant parasol that the princess was reluctant to use, lest it get wet? Surely an enemy savaged by such a weapon should consider itself well and truly beaten.

Weapons of all sorts were the currency of the day. From Cannons down through guns and swords to the tiniest dagger, all enjoyed the finest decoration, often in ivory, sometimes in gold. Difficult to imagine who was doing all of this decoration, the time and skill involved.

Over-the-top decoration was wrought in all available media. This wall display below is an example of Majolica carried to the extreme.

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Who was the knight proudly riding into battle atop this gilt saddle with its twin golden holsters supporting elaborately hand tooled pistols. How peeved would he be to be shafted from his mount by shabby pike-man.

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Also on display, from the other end of the decorative range is this 17^th cent. set of surgical instruments resembling a precursor of the Swiss Army knife. More functional this time, but still not able to resist a little decoration.

Ghiberti and Brunelleschi submitted panels in a competition to decide who would get the contract for the high profile baptistry doors. The panels are now side by side in the Bargello. The judges awarded an equal first to both guys. The judges wanted the two to co-operate in  building the doors, but Brunelleschi sulked and retired to work out a method for building the dome of  the adjacent Duomo. Here, Sweetiepie is standing in front of the Ghiberti doors. An impromptu visit to the Duomo might have been on the cards, but the four deep queue stretching around the corner, around the next corner and out to the horizon was enough deterrent to leave something for next time.