Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, fourth series, vol 59, supplement I, p. 19-36, 2008
The Florence Natural History Museum was promoted in the 18 th century by the enlightened Grand Du... more The Florence Natural History Museum was promoted in the 18 th century by the enlightened Grand Duke Peter Leopold. Its opening to the public in 1775 represented an unprecedented event as, until then, natural history museums were viewed as places exclusively reserved for nobles and scholars. During its long history, many of the Museum staff have contributed to the exploration and scientific documentation of the Mediterranean. The Museum's sections, which house a large quantity of scientific material, collected from throughout the Mediterranean region, bear witness to the role played by the institution in exploring and expanding our knowledge of this interesting geographical area. The origin of the collections from the Mediterranean can be ascribed to two different sources. The first, constituted by material collected during several scientific institutional expeditions, focused on the study of peculiar sites largely to document their natural history; the second, the specimens, objects, and other items accumulated , donated or exchanged by private researchers. Although the latter were not collected by Museum staff as a result of their own explorations of the Mediterranean area, they are, nonetheless, significant inasmuch as they are the voucher materials upon which numerous chorologic and biogeographic studies have been based. The present work considers the contributions of each of the sections of the Natural History Museum of Florence University to the scientific exploration and understanding of the Mediterranean basin, with short accounts of the main personalities involved. Il Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze nacque sulla scorta delle idee illuministe del XVIII seolo e fu voluto dal Granduca Pietro Leopoldo. La sua apertura al pubblico, nel 1775, costituì un evento senza precedenti nel panorama dei musei di storia naturale, fino ad allora considerati appan-naggio solo di nobili e studiosi. Durante la sua lunga storia, molti dei personaggi che hanno operato presso il Museo hanno contribuito all'esplorazione e all'illustrazione scientifica del Mediterraneo. Presso le sezioni del Museo si conservano abbondanti materiali scientifici, raccolti in varie parti del bacino del Mediterraneo che testimoniano il ruolo avuto dall'istituzione nella conoscenza di questa interessante area geografica. Se guardiamo all'origine delle raccolte e dei reperti provenienti dall'area mediterranea vedi-1
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Anthropology and Ethnology in Florence includes
objects belonging to the cultures of Polynesia, Melanesia
and the North-West Coast of North America. The
importance of these artifacts is increasingly recognized
not only by curators, ethnologists and artists, but also
by historians. In this contribution we retrace the history
of its rediscovery in the 19th century, and the studies of
the 20th century which confirmed its attribution and
expanded knowledge. Finally, we reflect on the contents,
methods of communication and the future potential of
this collection.
A specimen of Blue-winged Teal, killed in Padule di Orentano (Pisa), has been found in the Museo Zoologico "La Specola" of Florence.
Anthropology and Ethnology in Florence includes
objects belonging to the cultures of Polynesia, Melanesia
and the North-West Coast of North America. The
importance of these artifacts is increasingly recognized
not only by curators, ethnologists and artists, but also
by historians. In this contribution we retrace the history
of its rediscovery in the 19th century, and the studies of
the 20th century which confirmed its attribution and
expanded knowledge. Finally, we reflect on the contents,
methods of communication and the future potential of
this collection.
A specimen of Blue-winged Teal, killed in Padule di Orentano (Pisa), has been found in the Museo Zoologico "La Specola" of Florence.
Esse si riferiscono principalmente al Livornese e al Pisano. Le antiche tenute di Tombolo e Coltano, ampi comprensori palustri oggi bonificati, risultavano aree di particolare interesse per l’estensore e rappresentano anche uno dei principali motivi di interesse attuale di questa fonte informativa, stante il mutato assetto territoriale e la scarsezza di dati sull’avifauna ivi presente in passato.
Le annotazioni, scritte fra il 1900 e il 1934, si sono rivelate generalmente esatte e puntuali, testimoniando la buona preparazione ornitologica del loro Autore.
L’antica firma di possesso, la presenza di un Ex-libris e alcuni fogli volanti conservati all’interno del libro permettono con certezza di attribuire le note a Francesco Ott.
Un accurato elenco di preparati tassidermici effettuati dal medesimo personaggio è aggiunto alle le chiose, per una migliore conoscenza storico-faunistica di importanti ambienti toscani ormai scomparsi.