Museo Torricelliano

The Torricellian Museum in Faenza is devoted to the life and scientific legacy of Evangelista Torricelli. Its collection grew from the Torricellian display at Faenza's 1908 exhibition and has been housed in Palazzo Laderchi since 1974.

Why it matters

Torricelli was born in Rome, but Faenza was an important city in his education. The museum presents that connection alongside his work in mathematics and physics, including the mercury experiment that demonstrated atmospheric pressure and the principle behind the barometer.

What to notice

The collection includes instruments, models, portraits and manuscripts associated with Torricelli and the history of science. Barometers and models of telescopes sit alongside autograph manuscripts, astrolabes, a celestial globe by Vincenzo Coronelli and an airship model designed by Vincenzo Pritelli. Two frescoed halls in Palazzo Laderchi also contain a specialist library of more than two thousand volumes.

Context and history

The museum began with objects and documents assembled for the 1908 Esposizione Faentina, held for the third centenary of Torricelli's birth. Its holdings were deposited first at the Pinacoteca and later at the municipal library, which suffered wartime damage in November 1944. The Società Torricelliana di Scienze e Lettere, founded in 1947 from a committee established in 1942, took responsibility for sustaining the commemoration and managing the museum. In 1974 the collection moved to Palazzo Laderchi. Torricelli's scientific work included the Opera geometrica of 1644 and the law of fluid outflow that bears his name; his collected works were later published in a Faenza edition between 1919 and 1944.