Bargello Museum

Housed in a stark 13th-century fortress-like building that once served as a barracks, prison, and the residence of Florence's chief of police (the "bargello," which gives the museum its name), the Museo Nazionale del Bargello holds one of the world's most important collections of Renaissance sculpture — and gets a fraction of the visitors the Uffizi or Accademia see.

What to look for

• Donatello's bronze David — the first freestanding nude bronze statue since antiquity, a genuinely radical work when it was made in the 1440s, and the centrepiece of the Donatello Room.
• Donatello's Marzocco — the seated stone lion that became Florence's civic symbol, its paw resting on a shield bearing the city's fleur-de-lis.
• The 1401 Baptistery door competition panels — Ghiberti's and Brunelleschi's rival bronze entries for the Baptistery doors commission, displayed side by side; Brunelleschi's is sometimes called the first true work of the Renaissance.
• Michelangelo's early sculptures — including a youthful Bacchus, one of his few overtly classical, non-religious works.
• Works by Verrocchio and Cellini, rounding out a collection that traces the development of Florentine sculpture across two centuries.

Why it's worth your time

Beyond the individual masterpieces, the appeal of the Bargello is simply being able to look closely, slowly, without crowds — a genuinely different experience from the Uffizi at midday. Art-focused visitors with more than a day or two in Florence consistently rate it among the best value stops in the city.