The Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale of Florence was inaugurated in 1775. Grand Duke Peter Leopold appointed the naturalist Felice Fontana as its first director. Assisted by Giovanni Fabbroni, Fontana spared no effort to develop the Museum and its international cooperative projects.

Great care was taken in the construction of the chemistry laboratory, intended as an internationally recognized center for scientific research and technological applications. Peter Leopold himself, a student of science and a chemistry enthusiast, conducted many experiments in the laboratory, using chemical and pharmaceutical compounds that survive to this day. For these investigations the Grand Duke used an exceptional, complex chemistry cabinet. The furnishings of the chemistry laboratory included a large table of affinities.