Born in Florence, Targioni studied medicine at the University of Pisa. On returning to his native town, he was named supervisor of the observations and physical experiments carried out in the Galleria Medicea by order of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de' Medici. He developed methods for preserving animal corpses for anatomical dissection. Targioni also conducted meteorological observations - on a systematic basis from 1728 on.