 Chemical laboratory and Tabula Affinitatum |
Thanks to research on air (gases) and to the utilization in mineralogy of the resources offered by chemistry, a true "revolution in chemistry" began to take shape during the Age of Enlightenment. Starting from the latter half of the eighteenth century, research in chemistry underwent significant expansion in Florence, due also to the encouragement of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo who was keenly interested in analytical chemistry, as shown by his work bench and the remains of his collection of chemical preparations displayed here. Pietro Leopoldo gathered around him natural scientists such as Felice Fontana from Trento (1730-1805) and the Florentine Giovanni Fabbroni (1752-1822), giving them the opportunity to pursue chemical research at European level. The study of gases, eudiometry, physiological chemistry, mineralogy and the development of agricultural and metallurgical chemistry formed the main sectors for research in chemistry in eighteenth-century Tuscany, as can be seen from the instruments and documentation contained in this room. |