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Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology
Via Proconsolo, 12, 50122 Florence, Italy Phone: +39 055 239 64 49About
The museum houses an impressive collection of African and Asian art. Founded in 1869 by the famous anthropologist Paolo Mantegazza, this was the first of its kind in Italy.
It is in Palazzo Nonfinito which was begun in 1593 to the design of Bernardo Buontalenti and carried on but not completed by G. Battista Caccini, and subsequently by Cigoli in the early seventeenth century.
The material it contains relates to the habits and customs of the different parts of the world and collections illustrative of the different races: harnasses, straw and wooden containers, necklaces and amulets from Africa, musical instruments, ceramics and idols from Asia and the Polynesian Isles, costumes, arrows and boats from China, New Guinea, the Indies and so on.
