The Zoological Museum

The Zoological Museum

La Specola Via Romana 17 Entrance fee: 4 euro Hours: 9–1, Sun – Tues; 9–5 Saturday   The ‘La Specola’ Museum opened to the public in 1775, under the auspices of the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine. It was originally called the

bookmark
Wed 24 Jan 2007 11:00 PM

La Specola

Via Romana 17

Entrance fee: 4 euro

Hours: 9–1, Sun – Tues; 9–5 Saturday

 

The ‘La Specola’ Museum opened to the public in 1775, under the auspices of the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine. It was originally called the Imperial Museum of Physics and Natural History. Like most of the city’s artistic heritage, the natural history collection first began under the Medici family, but it was not until the Hapsburg-Lorraine family came to power that it grew in number and gained importance. The building was commonly known as the la specola, or observatory, for the astronomical tower that was added in 1789 and remained there for almost a century. The ‘Tribuna di Galileo’ constructed between 1839 and 1841 was built in honor of the great scientist and is a rare example of late neoclassical architecture in Florence. It is decorated with carved marble, stucco and gold; the frescoes portray the life of Galileo and other important scientific discoveries.

 

The museum’s first director was the chemist and physiologist Abbot Felice Fontana from Rovereto, who considerably enlarged the collections, as well as the library, thanks to long expeditions abroad. He also organized the exhibitions and museum departments. The most important of these was the wax modelling workshop, which was in operation even before the museum opened. These models of human and comparative anatomy and botanical subjects are still admired today for their precision and artistic qualities. (The wax model collection will be highlighted in the next issue).

 

The exhibits cover an area of 1,200 sq. m., in 34 rooms, 10 of which are devoted to the anatomical waxes and 24 to zoology. The specimens are arranged systematically, and the wealth of the exhibits, especially some groups of animals, offers the visitor a rather complete picture of extant organisms as well as an appreciable number of extinct and endangered species.

 

Jane’s suggestion: A stuffed hippopotamus, a 17th-century Medici pet, which once lived in the Boboli Gardens, is in the collection.

 

Related articles

ART + CULTURE

A room with a blessing: looking ahead to the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, London

The National Gallery in London has assembled the most comprehensive exhibition on Raphael, which will open on April 9, 2022.

ART + CULTURE

Accademia: The Bronze Effigy of Michelangelo exhibition

For the first time, the nine bronze busts of Michelangelo attributed to Daniele da Volterra are side by side for scientific study at the Galleria dell'Accademia.

ART + CULTURE

Black History Month in Florence, 2022

Three exhibitions at MAD Murate Art District centre on Afro-descendant artists from February 10 through to April 2, 2022, curated in collaboration with Black History Month Florence.

LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE