Michelangelo’s sculpture of Bacchus is housed in Florence’s Bargello museum, officially the Museo Nazionale del Bargello.
Michelangelo carved the marble Bacchus in Rome around 1496–1497. The statue portrays the Roman god of wine in an unstable, reeling pose, holding a goblet while a small satyr crouches behind him and eats grapes. Its deliberately intoxicated appearance differs from the idealized calm often associated with classical sculpture.
Cardinal Raffaele Riario originally commissioned the work, but rejected it. Michelangelo’s friend and banker Jacopo Galli acquired the statue instead. The Medici later bought it and transferred it to Florence in 1572, bringing the work into the city’s major Renaissance collections.
The Bargello is especially associated with sculpture, including important works by Donatello, Cellini, Giambologna, and Michelangelo. Visitors sometimes confuse Bacchus with Michelangelo’s David, which is displayed at the Accademia Gallery. The Uffizi and Pitti Palace also hold famous Florentine art, but not this marble Bacchus.