The Bargello’s marble faun that vanished from a Tuscan castle

A small marble faun, inventory number 94, was held at Florence’s Bargello. Its association with Michelangelo recalls Giorgio Vasari’s account of an early faun that impressed Lorenzo de’ Medici. The Uffizi describes the missing Bargello sculpture as attributed to Michelangelo. The story of the young artist does not settle the identity of the object.

In December 1942, the Bargello’s sculpture travelled to the castle at Poppi for protection from wartime bombing. In August 1944, as Allied forces advanced through Italy, German soldiers searched the building and carried away crates of art. A visit by Allied arts officer Frederick Hartt in September documented the extent of the losses.

A January 1946 report listed the mask among the works from Poppi that remained unaccounted for. The Uffizi later revisited the episode in an exhibition at the castle itself. The sculpture shown in the archival image is the missing Bargello object. Its present location remains unknown.