The Natural History Museum was established in 1691 with the Accademia dei Fisiocritici founded by Pirro Maria Gabbrielli (1643-1705). The Museum plays a leading role in achieving the institutional goals of promoting and disseminating science. The main features of the Museum are the historical-scientific aspect of the collections, regional representativeness, particularly of southern Tuscany, and the acquisition of artifacts mainly through donations made mostly in the 18th-19th centuries, especially by the very scholars who formed them. Even today, the typical display style of that period is maintained, making the definition of “museum of the museum” appropriate. The Museum is divided into two main sections: Geological and Zoological, with the addition of the Anatomical and Botanical sections. Other museum assets include: Metrological Collection, Paleontological Collection, Collection of Mineral Waters of the Siena province, Helimeters, Vacuum Machine, Planetarium, Historical Artefacts of the Academy. Inventories of the entire museum heritage were carried out between 1935 and 1938. After World War II, the museum was closed to the public and officially reopened in 1972 following renovation works on the premises. In 1991, the first Museum guide was published coinciding with the reorganization of the Geological Section. The process of computerizing the collections began, which, from 2004 onward, connected some catalogs online according to current museum standards and created a path of touch screens, digital frames in the rooms, and handheld devices for visitors that increase accessibility for those with disabilities.
Information about the Natural History Museum of the Accademia dei Fisiocritici
Silvio Gigli (Prato di Sant’Agostino), 2
Siena (Siena)
057747002
fisiocritici@unisi.it
https://www.accademiafisiocritici.it
Source: MIBACT
