Galileo: Images of the universe from antiquity to the telescope, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 13 March-30 August
WITH all the attention on Darwin this year, one could almost overlook the 400th anniversary of one of the most significant events in the history of science: the first time Galileo peered through his telescope and provided conclusive evidence that the Earth circles the sun. Two exhibitions are marking the occasion, though, both in conjunction with the Institute and Museum of the History of Science (IMSS) in Florence, Italy.
See some of the exhibitions鈥� best artefacts in our gallery
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鈥淕alileo, Medici and the Age of Astronomy鈥� opens next month at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania featuring one of Galileo鈥檚 two surviving telescopes. Meanwhile, an expansive exhibition has just opened at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. details the development of astronomy from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to Galileo鈥檚 new universe.
IMSS director Paolo Galluzzi has assembled a comprehensive visual guide to humanity鈥檚 notions of the heavens, drawing on clay tablets, frescoes, manuscripts, paintings and maps, as well as a remarkable range of scientific instruments, including Galileo鈥檚 other telescope. The sundials, astrolabes, armillary and celestial spheres and other devices on display are extraordinarily beautiful objects. For these alone, the show is a success. Meanwhile, the ingenuity of the cosmological references in the works of art on view 鈥� notably the astronomical tapestry from Toledo cathedral in Spain and the , a painting attributed to the studio of Jan Breughel the Elder 鈥� are every bit as impressive as their aesthetic qualities.
鈥淕alileo鈥� is an unapologetically didactic show, and makes profitable use of interactive technology. For example, there is a full reconstruction of the Greek Antikythera mechanism, the oldest complex astronomical instrument, constructed in the 1st or 2nd century BC. It is accompanied by a video showing the gearing that allowed the display of the Egyptian calendar, solstices and equinoxes, phases of the sun and moon, the epicycles of the five known planets, and eclipses.
In a particularly inventive touch, many of the visual aids encourage visitors to gaze upwards, where projections on the ceilings help them make sense of, for example, the Babylonian and Assyrian views of the sky, the medieval conception of the zodiac and the differences between polar, equatorial and gnonomic views of the sky.
鈥淰isitors are encouraged to gaze upwards, to see the Babylonian and Assyrian views of the sky鈥�
The impressive section on Islamic cosmology includes a small, stunning 鈥� the only known example of its kind. From there we see the Christianisation of astronomy: the addition of more complex epicycles to the Ptolemaic system in order to maintain Earth鈥檚 centrality and regular, circular movements of the heavens.
All that changed with Galileo. His , a letter pointing out that Saturn appeared to have two small satellites, and his later diary observations of the satellites of Jupiter, testify to his empirical confirmation of Copernicus鈥檚 theories and the demolition of the geocentric universe.
Galileo famously came into conflict with the Church: his Dialogo was placed on the Vatican鈥檚 Index of Prohibited Books and he was called before the Inquisition and forced to abjure his views 鈥� a scene depicted in Cristiano Banti鈥檚 1857 painting .
Whether Galileo ever uttered the apocryphal E pur si muove (鈥淎nd yet it moves鈥�), he was, of course, proved right. The power of his observations in supplanting religious ideology is best captured in a single arresting image: , detached from his remains in 1737, encased in glass and gilt and pointing heavenward. It is a scientific reliquary for a secular saint.
