Florence-museum of natural history, palazzo vecchio and brancacci chapel

Crystals in the exhibit

the colors of the crystals were really stunning

one of the only crystals that was from the States, from Michigan, called the horse

crystals in very odd shapes

stuffed wombat

stuffed anteater

stuffed hedgehogs

inside the palazzo vecchio, a tree made of poinsetta plants

fresco in palazzo vecchio

palazzo vecchio, lovely wood ceiling

brancacci chapel, with frescoes by massaccio,  expulsion of adam and eve  from paradise . painted  about 1425

brancacci chapel, sometimes called the sistine chapel of the renaissance

brancacci chapel

Having time to explore places I had never seen on a very, cold Sunday morning while others went to visit the Davanzati Museum I went to see the Museum of Natural History, called "La Specola". It is a part of the pitti palace museum complex.  There was a wonderful exhibit of crystals from around the world, about 5 rooms full, one more stunning than the next. For most of my visit I was the only one in there. Afterwards I went into the natural history part of the building. This was a huge step back in time with old wooden cases filled with animals of all kinds. Unbelievable stuff, lions with cubs, hippos, rhinos, all kinds of animals from Australia, snakes, rooms full of birds, a whole section of human body insides (most of which I skipped).
We headed to lunch after a walk and then took in the lovely Brancacci chapel frescoed in the 15th century by Masolino, his pupil Masaccio, and finished by Filippo Lippi. A great way to end another successful trip to Florence.