FLORENCE, ITALY – A desire to see a real-life prehistoric monster lies behind the success of life-sized reconstructions, from the famous examples in the exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851, to the more recent “Jurassic Park” and “Walking with Dinosaurs”. Today, this idea takes new form in Florence, leaving behind the confines of cinema and television to embrace again the whole visual horizon.

It takes place in the most prestigious contexts for natural history in the city, at the Semplici Garden and amongst the palaeontological collections of the Museum of Natural History.

The animals presented in the exhibition “Dinosaurs in the Flesh” are the fruit of more modern and accurate anatomical and ecological research, united with the incomparable talents of the best Italian artists in the field, those with an international reputation.

The largest-sized animals, amongst which several well-known protagonists in fantasies, and not just childhood ones, like Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus and Gallimimus, will be seen in one of the world’s oldest botanical gardens, against a background of vegetation to suggest their original habitat.

Others, like Glyptodon and Scipionyx, can be found amongst the fossil skeletons of the leading national paleontological collection, itself an important record of the role Florence has played in the history of science.

The exhibit will take place form 1st March to 2nd September 2012 (9 am – 7 pm 1st June – 2nd September) 10 am – 7 pm (in the other days) at the Museum of Natural History, 15 minutes walk from S. Maria Novella train station. Full price entry 10 Euros (For children 4-8 Euros, Family tickets 22 Euros).