Scenes from the museum: the hermaphrodite monkey and stage management at La Specola

How can a natural history collection be turned into an instrument of public education? What should an institution serving such a purpose look like? Everyday scenes from the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History in Florence, founded in 1775, highlight the practical problems with transforming a museum in such a fashion. Naturalists employed at the Royal Museum took measures to control both its 'frontstage' (the public exhibition) and its 'backstage' (the offices and workshops) in an effort to secure the integrity of the educational and scientific mission of the new institution.