Rooms XVI-XVII present a series of instruments used to illustrate the fundamental laws and principles of mechanics and hydrostatics. The beautiful objects on display were made from 1775 onward in the workshop of the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale, under the supervision of Felice Fontana. They were chiefly inspired by the illustrations in Jean-Antoine Nollet's Leçons de physique (Paris, 1743-1748). Many of these effective models and apparatuses became so popular that they continued to be produced—with only minor changes—by numerous makers until the first decades of the twentieth century; they were used to teach classical physics. The original instrument collections comprised inclined planes, machines applying centrifugal force, apparatuses to demonstrate the parabolic trajectory of projectiles, and models of machines such as winches and levers, of which several fine specimens are exhibited here.