The former Museo di Storia della Scienza (Museum of the History of Science) is scheduled to re-open today as the new Museo Galileo. The museum has been closed (one account says for two years - is that possible?) and has undergone a renovation involving a complete redesign of its exhibition areas and displays.
I am definitely planning to go next week with the kids as today is the last day of school.
From the press release:
The new layout of the Museo Galileo offers on display more than 1,000 instruments and devices of major scientific importance and beauty. The central figure is Galileo, with the history of Florence and Tuscany as the background theme. Under the rule of the Medici and Lorraine, the city and the region were a center of excellence for scientific knowledge as well as a thriving cradle for the arts. The events and discoveries that took place there had a deep impact on the history of modern science.
The Museo Galileo features a series of structural and functional innovations. The restoration of the interior of the Palazzo Castellani (which dates from the twelfth century) has emphasized its monumental dimension and architectural distinction. The elegant, state-of-the-art display cases highlight the esthetic quality of the objects on view, while ensuring their perfect conservation. Portable interactive video-guides—used for the first time in a museum—make the most complex instruments fully understandable even to non-specialist visitors. The devices offer access to hypertext pages, 3D animations, and biographies. Visitors can use the video-guides to select an itinerary through the museum tailored to their specific interests.
Oh anthony, if you go please let us know what it's like. Invest in the video-guide because it seems really cool.
I posted a bit more information about the museum's contents on TuscanyArts; people might like to know that right now they can also enter to win a trip to FLorence, a tour of the new museum and a tour of other Galileo locations in Tuscany! More info at the bottom of this post: http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanyarts/museo-galileo-florence-science/
Posted by: Tuscanyart | June 14, 2010 at 05:54 PM
Ciao Anthony -
Of course 2 years renovations are possible (although I'm not sure if you suppose it is a lot or very little)...!
The Galleria Borghese took over 14 years, most of which was done in the 9 months leading up to (former Minister of Culture) Veltroni's mandate that it simply open, ready or not.
As for Videoguides, caveat emptor. What in most countries are exciting multi-media productions, are usually rich text encyclopedias done by the scientist or historian in question...I haven't tried this yet, but stay tuned!
Francesca Maggi
Burnt by the Tuscan Sun
http://burntbythetuscansun.blogspot.com
Posted by: Burntbythetuscansun.blogspot.com | July 07, 2010 at 01:00 PM