Artworks represent a priceless asset to the economic and cultural features of communities. Most art collections are hosted in Museums, which can be new buildings, appositely made for an expositive purpose, or monumental buildings, whose high artistic and historical value enhances the exposed art pieces. In this latter case, however, the Museums can disregard the seismic safety requirements provided for new buildings, becoming the main source of hazard for the precious contents they should preserve.

In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the National Museum of Bargello in Florence is studied by means of a dynamic identification, focusing the attention on the “Sala di Donatello”. An experimental campaign was performed by simultaneously installing two sets of three seismometric stations in the mentioned room and  inside the corresponding one at the base of the building (Sala Michelangelo). Analysis of the recorded data via Operational Modal Analysis techniques has furnished the structure’s natural frequencies, damping ratio and mode shapes allowing the calibration of a finite-element model (FE model) of the building. A sample of accelerograms compatible with the seismic hazard of the area and the soil class of the Museum has been applied to the FE model in order to estimate the seismic acceleration potentially acting on the exhibited works.

To evaluate the effect of the dynamic amplification of the building on the seismic performance of the artefacts, a simplified rigid-block analysis was performed. As a case study, we tried to apply the method to the "Marzocco", the statue of the lion considered the symbol of Florence, realized by Donatello in 1420, placed on a marble pedestal made by Benedetto da Maiano in 1480, which is a work of art as well.