Mineralogy collections - Alessandro Guastoni area

 

 

Quartz, topaz, emeralds, gold, gemstones ...
The Collections of Mineralogy at Museum of Nature and Humankind of the University of Padova houses an extensive collection of mineral samples, with pieces from heavily mined – and often now depleted – mineral and metal deposits in Italy and abroad, but also from impervious mountain locations where, even today, mineral hunters adventure in search of precious “crystals of rock”. Minerals such as these are a precious resource for geological research, but they also have countless applications in industrial and civil contexts, and have been used for centuries as natural pigments for decoration and works of art.
The original core of the collection comprised specimens from the Vallisneri natural history collection, which was donated to the university in the early eighteenth century. The collection has grown over the intervening centuries, with additions such as the Gasser and Bianchi collections and countless more recently acquired specimens swelling its ranks to the point that today it can boast some 18,000 minerals, gemstones, ores and meteorite samples.
The museum also houses an extensive collection of nineteenth-century scientific instruments, such as goniometers, polariscopes and microscopes, which were used to observe and measure the morphological characteristics of crystals long before the advent of the X-ray technologies used today.
The mission of the Museum of Mineralogy is to protect and conserve its collection, but also to add to it with new mineral varieties, the likes of which continue to come to light as new areas of the planet are explored and surveyed. Not only are these discoveries new to science, they are fascinating to look and have great potential as exhibits.

The Mineralogy Area - Alessandro Guastoni is currently undergoing a phase of reorganisation and refurbishment, although the collection remains accessible to students and academics for research purposes.

 

Mineralogy collections
Palazzo Cavalli, via Giotto 1 - 35131 Padova
Tel +39 049 8272006 – fax +39 049 8272000
email: museo.mineralogia@unipd.it

 

Curator: Simone Molinari
Palazzo Cavalli
via Giotto 1 - 35131 Padova

tel. +39 049 8272006
email: simone.molinari@unipd.it

 

Scientific director of the Museo della Natura e dell'Uomo: prof. Fabrizio Nestola

Departmental delegate to the museums: Prof. Gilberto Artioli
Tel. +39 049 8279162
email: gilberto.artioli@unipd.it

 

Department of Geosciences
Via G. Gradenigo 6 – 35131 Padova
Tel +39 049 8279100 – fax +39 049 8279134

Head of Department: Prof. Nicola Surian

 

 

 

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