SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE STATUE “MARZOCCO” EXHIBITED AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BARGELLO (FLORENCE, ITALY)

The assessment of the seismic vulnerability of artifacts has been collecting many experimental and theoretical contributions. Numerical analysis through FEM models has been extensively adopted to represent the dynamic response of complex systems - such as sculptures and objects of art - subjected to seismic excitation. Due to the on-going increase of the computational capacity of software, FEM modeling has been becoming more and more effective, allowing to represent many of the most relevant behaviors of the dynamic response of complex systems. The current work investigates one of the most representative pieces of Florence’s Renaissance: the stone statue “Marzocco” by Donatello, currently exhibited at the National Museum of Bargello, in Florence. The dynamic response of the statue has been represented through a FEM model set on the basis of a detailed photogrammetric survey, and it has been studied accounting for the dynamic properties of the building. The seismic acceleration experience by the statue has been checked accounting for the seismic hazard of the area and for the dynamic propagation of the building, opportunely checked through an experimental investigation. The seismic response of the case-study has been found with reference to the seismic excitation of the foundation soil of the building and to the one at the floor where Marzocco is exhibited, in order to check the role plaid by the building propagation. The results provided by the analysis have been compared to the threshold for the overturning mechanism of the statue, which resulted to be safe.