Where Art meets Tecnology

The Scales Museum is a place where art meets technology. It is born thanks to the passion of Velio Ortolani, an extraordinary collector who wanted to exhibit a part of his unusual and consistent collection of scales and weights, one of the most important in Europe by type, chronology and number of pieces. Inside the Museum rooms there are 160 different types of scales that allow us to retrace over 600 years of balance history, starting from some small Renaissance steelyards made from a sword up to the great industrial bascule of the last century. Some scales evoke tender childhood memories, such as the children weighing scales or the equal-arm balances of domestic use. Others surprise for their extraordinary beauty, for the attention to detail and for the refinement of the decoration. The Museum is not limited to mere exposition of the objects and telling their technical evolution over the centuries. The scales return to their function and become a particular starting point for a different way of “making” history. An accurate interactive educational path composed of panels and tools slead the visitor to discover ancient crafts such as the dazier and the money changers, or of crafts that have now disappeared, such as the breeding of silkworms. Children have a path of their own, made of readings and practical activities. A curious character named “Staderino” will accompany the little visitors to discover the history of the scales and this trip will be an opportunity to learn new things