Collections are the cornerstone of every museum.
Although the public really never realises it, the naturalistic and archaeological heritage of the MUSE is continuously increasing, thanks to specific research activities, occasional discoveries, donations or purchases.
In 2021 and 2022, the collections saw the addition of important new material, including:
Boselli Mineral Collection
This collection consists of around 600 specimens purchased in 2021, the most representative material collected by Trentino husband and wife Luigi and Francesca Boselli in some 30 years of passionate research, much of it focused on the Trentino Dolomites.
Sergio Boschele palaeontology collection
A huge palaeontology collection consisting of 2468 Cenozoic fossils from Valsugana, collected and studied by the private collector Sergio Boschele, who chose to donate the fruit of his 30 years of research to the MUSE.
Giulia Giudice mineralogy and palaeontology collection
This collection consists of 269 specimens of minerals, fossils, and other finds, totalling 569 pieces. Giulia Giudice (Venice, 1927-2020) was a Venetian scholar, academic, economic geography teacher and keen collector of natural finds.
"Cuore di Vignola"
In 2022 a precious specimen of green fluorite was acquired, one of the most iconic ever extracted from the Vignola mine, collected in 2002 by Mario and Lino Pallaoro, well-known mineral prospectors from S. Orsola Terme.
Palaeontology specimens donated by Matteo Tovazzi
Mr Matteo Tovazzi donated three interesting palaeontological specimens to the MUSE: two plant fossils from the Carboniferous basin of Northern Europe and a piece containing various species of anisic ammonites from the well-known palaeontological site of Malga Stabol Fresco (Sella Giudicarie).
Francesco Demartin Mineralogy collection
Professor Francesco Demartin, former professor of chemistry at the Università degli Studi in Milan, is an internationally renowned crystallographer and discoverer of 40 new mineral species. At the end of 2022, MUSE acquired his collection, consisting of around 100 specimens representing the best of what Demartin himself collected between the sixties and the eighties in the Dolomites.
For information write to collezioni@muse.it