*** NEW: Newly Reopened Florence Museum Features Galileo's Fingers (Free Italy Travel Advice) ***
In producing some of the world's greatest scientific minds,
Italy has shared an intimate history with the development of modern
science. Based on the content of the newly reopened Instituto e Museo di
Storia della Scienza
(Institute and Museum of the History of Science), now renamed the Museo Galileo
(The Galileo Museum), it is safe to say that the city of Florence
in particular, has played a significant role in scientific history.
At the reopening, museum director Paolo Galluzzi announced
the addition of two fingers from Galileo's right hand and one
of his teeth to the museum's collection. They reappeared at at an
auction last year, over a century years since they were reportedly last
seen. The Museo Galileo was already in possession of the
scientist's middle finger.When Galileo's body was
transported in 1737 from storage to its final resting place in
Florence's Santa
Croce Church, dedicated
followers of Galileo removed his digits from his body.
The two fingers and tooth of the famous scientist were preserved in a
sealed jar, which was passed along from generation to generation in the
same family. The jar turned up in an auction house without
anyone knowing to whom the fingers and tooth belonged. The discovery of
the owner of the parts was made after comparison was conducted between
the jar to a detailed description of the jar found in a document left
behind by the last person who saw the remains of the famous scientist.
The buyer of the digits prefers to remain anonymous.
The dismemberment and preservation of a man or woman's parts
was common practice for Catholic saints after their death. Organs,
fingers and tongues were commonly removed from holy figures and
maintained as sacred relics. It seems a bit ironic that Galileo, a
blasphemous scientist, would receive the same after-death treatment of
holy member of the Catholic Church. Galileo was jailed in 1634 by the
Inquisition for sharing his astrological discovers with the
world—discoveries that contradicted the teachings of the
church. His followers, however, understood him to be something of a
scientific saint and cut off the fingers he used to hold a pen as a
sort of memorial service.
Now three of the astronomer's fingers and one tooth are
displayed in small, glass, state-of-the- art, preservation display
cases. The interior renovation and reopening of the 12th-century
building Palazzo
Castellani marked the
unveiling not only of the fingers and new interior design, but also the
interactive, portable video guides. These guides allow each visitor to
customize his or her experience inside the museum. These innovative
virtual guides, never before used in a museum, give the user access to
hypertext pages, biographies and 3-D animation.
With its freshly constructed exhibit spaces, the museum also displays
1,000 aged instruments of major scientific relevance. Many of the
instruments and apparatuses on displayexplore the contributions
Florence and the rest of Tuscany
made to the world of science and
are not tools used by Galileo himself. The Museo Galileo also offers scholars access to its specialized
library, which is also available online.
--
Shakira Mongul
The Details
Museo
Galileo
Piazza dei Giudici, 1 (near the Ponte Vecchio)
Florence
(39) 055 265311(
www.museogalileo.it
Open daily 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. except Tuesday when it is open 9:30
a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Closed January 1 and 6, Easter, May 1, June 24, August 15, November 1,
December 8, 25, 26.
Tickets range from 5 euros for students and seniors to 8 euros for
general admission.
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