Algario di Vittoria Altoviti Avila Toscanelli | Vittoria Altoviti Avila Toscanelli's Algarium

From 1875 onwards, she spent a lot of time with the son, Giovanni Battista, at Villa Ottone on Elba island (Tuscany, Italy), devoting herself to the collection and study of algae, a field in which she also gained recognition from botanists in academic circles.

She learnt the techniques of specimen preparation from Count Francesco Castracane degli Antelminelli (1817-1899) and corresponded with one of the most renowned phycologist of the time, Francesco Ardissone (1837-1910), with whom he established a friendship in 1880, as well as a fruitful intellectual exchange. She mainly undertook excursions on the island, often in the company of his son and the Florentine physician and photographer Giorgio Roster (1843-1927), but she also had the opportunity to collect specimens whilst taking part in cruises aboard the schooner ‘Olga’ and the cutter ‘Corinna’ in the waters of Central Mediterranean; the latter, also in the presence of the Italian zoologist and anthropologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli (1845-1909).