New relics of Galileo found: two fingers and a tooth

Area:	Institute
Start:	25 November 2009
End:	25 November 2009
Description:	Three exceptional Galilean relics, deemed lost for over a century, have been recently found again. They will be displayed to the public for the first time in the Spring of 2010 on the occasion of the reopening of the Museo di Storia della Scienza, under the new name of Museo Galileo. These relics consist of a tooth and two fingers from Galileo's right hand, removed from the great scientist's corpse on March 12, 1737, when Galileo's remains were moved from the secret storage room where they had first been laid to the monumental tomb in the basilica of Santa Croce. Thanks to the report compiled by a notary and the records left by other eye witnesses, we have many details about the ceremony. We know, for instance, that at the moment when Galileo's remains were displayed after the coffin lid had been raised some of those present removed a few anatomical parts from the corpse - three fingers on the right hand (the thumb, index finger and middle finger), a vertebra (the fifth) and a tooth. Some of these relics have been carefully preserved to this day: one of the fingers in the Florence Museum, and the vertebra at the University of Padua. The history of the other two fingers and the tooth - owned by Marchese Capponi - was known up to 1905, then all traces of them disappeared. The Galilean mementos recently reappeared at an auction, when a wooden case surmounted by a wooden bust of Galileo was being sold as a lot. The case housed an 18th-century glass vase containing two fingers and a tooth. A collector decided to buy this unique object and immediately began an in-depth research that led to the identification of the remains of Galileo. The Soprintendente al Polo Museale Fiorentino, Cristina Acidini, and the Director of the Museo di Storia della Scienza, Paolo Galluzzi have confirmed the authenticity of these findings on the basis of the abundant historical evidence left to us. For in-depth information: Paolo Galluzzi, "The sepulchers of Galileo: the 'living' remains of a hero of science" (http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bdv?/bdviewer/bid=366094)

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