Carlo Marcellini, Bust of Galileo Galilei

INTRODUCTION
- Man and the stars
SECTION I
- The dawn of astronomy: Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Biblical Cosmos
SECTION II
- The cosmos becomes a sphere
SECTION III
- The geometry of the cosmos
SECTION IV
- The skies of Islam
SECTION V
- Evangelisation of the cosmos
SECTION VI
- The Renaissance of Astronomy
SECTION VII
- Galileo: the cosmos through the telescope
SECTION VIII
- From Galileo to Newton

Pair of planetaria: Ptolemaic and Copernican

The middle finger of Galileo’s right hand

Carlo Marcellini, Bust of Galileo Galilei

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Carlo Marcellini (1644-1713)
Bust of Galileo Galilei, 1674-1677
Florence, Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Galileo clutches to his chest, in his right hand, two of the instruments that symbolise his dedication to science: the geometric and military sector, and the telescope. The bust was commissioned by Cosimo III de' Medici.