Replica of the condensation hygrometer used by the Accademia del Cimento and patterned after the instrument invented by Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1655. Truncated hollow tin cone with pitch-covered interior. Exterior painted with a frieze of orange, classical figures against a black background. Metal cone is inverted and originally a smaller hollow glass cone was fitted into its base. Glass cone missing. Metal cone held in a wooden collar supported on three legs. Wooden stand carved in running leaf pattern. The glass cone would have been filled with ice or cold water and its point would have been positioned over a beaker. As moisture condensed from the air onto the glass, it would run down the outside of the cone into the beaker.