The Thermometers of the Accademia: Art and Science in Glassware
By demonstrating that the height of a column of mercury in a barometer tube rises or falls with changing temperatures, Torricelli's experiment (Spring 1644) opened new horizons to thermometry. In this field the members of the Accademia del Cimento made fundamental contributions, being the first to develop graduated alcohol thermometers. Blown in glass by skilled craftsmen, the Cimento's elegant, bizarrely shaped thermometers expressed to the highest degree the Medicean Court's programmatic intermingling of art and science. The new instruments for measuring temperature, set to the same standard, were utilized in the network of meteorological observatories - the world's first, as far as we know - promoted by Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610-1670).
Bottle
Inv. 2067
Maker unknown, 16th cent.
Bottle
Inv. 3804
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Bowls
Inv. 2068, 2069, 2070, 2071
Maker unknown, 16th cent.
Box with thermometers
Inv. 195, 2450
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Bucket
Inv. 329
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
"Capriccio" glass
Inv. 341/i
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Centerpiece
Inv. 86
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Centerpiece
Inv. 302
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Chalice
Inv. 315
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Chalice glass
Inv. 3904
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Chalice glass
Inv. 3905
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Chalice glass
Inv. 3906
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Chalice with fins
Inv. 341/38
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Chalice with handles
Inv. 280
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Chalices
Inv. 104, 105
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Cluster thermometer
Inv. 190
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Cluster thermometer
Inv. 196
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Communicating vases
Inv. 186
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Conical glass
Inv. 3803
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Conical glass
Inv. 309
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Conical glass
Inv. 320
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Conical glass
Inv. 310
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Crab-shaped "capriccio" glass
Inv. 103
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Cup
Inv. 268
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Cups joined by a stem
Inv. 3805
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Cups with "blobs"
Inv. 266, 267
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Cylindrical vase
Inv. 252
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Cylindrical vase
Inv. 304
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Decorated chalice
Inv. 3801
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Display plate
Inv. 291
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Double-handle vase
Inv. 341/34
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Double-handle vase
Inv. 279
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Double-handle vases
Inv. 330
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Fifteen- and twenty-degree thermometers
Inv. 179, 182
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Fifty-degree thermometer
Inv. 173
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Fifty-degree thermometer with colored liquid
Inv. 102
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Fifty-degree thermometers
Inv. 31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Fifty-degree thermometers
Inv. 85
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Fifty-degree thermometers
Inv. 79
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Flute chalice
Inv. 262
Maker unknown, 17th cent.
Fountain
Inv. 88
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
"Frog" thermometer
Inv. 2449
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Glass with handles
Inv. 258
Maker unknown, Tuscany?, early 17th cent.
Hundred- and eighty-degrees thermometers
Inv. 175, 176
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Hundred-degree thermometer
Inv. 172
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Hydrometer
Inv. 3740
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Hydrometer with thermometer
Inv. 213
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Phial
Inv. 3800
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Phial
Inv. 3737
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Phial thermometer
Inv. 78
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Phial thermometer
Inv. 184
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Phials
Inv. 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Plates
Inv. 285, 294, 295, 297
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Plates
Inv. 286, 287, 289, 290, 292, 293, 296, 299, 300, 337, 338
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
"Serpent" chalice
Inv. 341/33
Maker unknown, Tuscany?, 17th cent.
Seventy-degree thermometers
Inv. 192
Maker unknown, Florence, 17th cent.
Sixty-degree thermometers
Inv. 66, 67
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Small cup
Inv. 80
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Small hydrostatic balance
Inv. 27
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Sphere for hydrometer
Inv. 3739
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Sphere for hydrometer
Inv. 3738
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Sphere hydrometers
Inv. 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Spheres for hydrometers
Inv. 721
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Spiral thermometers
Inv. 193, 194/a, 194/b
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stand
Inv. 3802
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Stem
Inv. 87
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 3742
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 188
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 178
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 3741
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 180
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 217
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 214
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 191
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 185
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Stem hydrometer
Inv. 187
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Tall-stem chalice
Inv. 318
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Tall-stem thermometers
Inv. 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 160, 163, 164, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Tall-stem thermometers
Inv. 282, 283, 2447, 2448
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Thermometer phials
Inv. 73, 74, 75, 76, 77
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Thirty-degree thermometer
Inv. 70
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Thirty-degree thermometer
Inv. 216
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.
Vase
Inv. 341/36
Maker unknown, Tuscany, 17th cent.
Vases
Inv. 2064, 2065
Maker unknown, 16th cent.
Vases with handles
Inv. 316, 317
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Vases with spouts
Inv. 257, 275
Maker unknown, Tuscany, late 16th cent. - early 17th cent.
Wine-testing
Inv. 107, 108
Maker unknown, Florence, mid-17th cent.