file:Tribuna di galileo 03.JPG, alt=A room with a domed roof supported by round arches. The room beyond the facing arch has frescoes on the wall and a white marble statue of Galileo, also facing the viewer., Tribune of Galileo interior: view across the anteroom toward the statue under the dome The Tribune of Galileo ( it, Tribuna di Galileo) is a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassic architectural addition, built to commemorate the famous Florence, Florentine scientist, Galileo Galilei and to house some of his scientific instruments.

Description

The tribune was completed in 1841 and built within the first floor of the Science Museum of La Specola in Florence. The tribune was built by orders of Leopold II (1797-1870). The House of Lorraine-Habsburg was foreign to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

; and the embrace of Galileo can be seen as an attempt to co-opt local patriotism. It contains a large statue of Galileo and a series of lunettes and frescoes depicting events in scientific history relating to Florence. It once contained some of his original instruments such as his geometric and military compass, an armed loadstone, two telescopes, and the

objective lens In optical engineering, the objective is the optical element that gathers light from the object being observed and Focus (optics), focuses the ray (optics), light rays to produce a real image. Objectives can be a single Lens (optics), lens or mirr ...

of the telescope with which Galileo discovered the four largest

moons of Jupiter There are 82 known moons of Jupiter, not counting a number of moonlets likely shed from the inner moons. All together, they form a satellite system which is called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: ...

. The tribune is generally not open to the public.Museo Galileo
website. The tribune consists mainly of two rooms: a square vaulted hall, and an adjacent square room glass-metal dome. The dome allows light to shine over a marble statue of Galileo by

Aristodemo Costoli Aristodemo Costoli (1803–1871) was an Italian sculptor who spent his entire career in the city of Florence. His students included Emilio Zocchi, Girolamo Masini, Augusto Rivalta and his son Leopoldo Costoli. Partial anthology of works Flo ...

. The surrounding niches have busts of famous pupils of Galileo:

Benedetto Castelli Benedetto Castelli (1578 – 9 April 1643), born Antonio Castelli, was an Italian mathematician. Benedetto was his name in religion on entering the Benedictine Order in 1595. Life Born in Brescia, Castelli studied at the University of Padua and l ...

Bonaventura Cavalieri Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri ( la, Bonaventura Cavalerius; 1598 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian mathematician and a Jesuate. He is known for his work on the problems of optics and motion, work on indivisibles, the precursors of infi ...

Evangelista Torricelli Evangelista Torricelli ( , also , ; 15 October 160825 October 1647) was an Italian physicist and mathematician, and a student of Galileo. He is best known for his invention of the barometer, but is also known for his advances in optics and work o ...

, and

Vincenzo Viviani Vincenzo Viviani (April 5, 1622 – September 22, 1703) was an Italian mathematician and scientist. He was a pupil of Torricelli and a disciple of Galileo.

. Medallions in the adjacent hall commemorate the patrons. The frescoes on the walls depict: *''Leonardo da Vinci before the Duke of Milan,

Ludovico Sforza Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; "the Moor"). "Arbiter of Italy", according to the expression used by Guicciardini,

'' (by Nicola Cianfanelli) *''Galileo demonstrates the Laws of Gravity to the Medici'' (by

Giuseppe Bezzuoli Giuseppe Bezzuoli (28 November 1784 – 13 September 1855) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassicism, Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence. Biography He studied as a young man under Jean-Baptiste Desmarais a ...

) *''Galileo observes the lamp-

pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

of the Duomo of Pisa'' (by

Luigi Sabatelli Luigi Sabatelli (21 February 1772 – 29 January 1850) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence. Biography He studied in his native city and in Rome. In 1803, with the reorganizatio ...

) *''Galileo presents the telescope to the Senate of Venice'' (by

) *''Galileo, blind and old, converses with disciples'' (by

) *''Session of Experiments at the Accademia del Cimento'' (by Gasparo Martellini) *''

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the ...

demonstrates his experimental battery to Napoleon'' (design by Cianfanelli, completed by Martellini). Ultimately, this is an odd architectural assembly. The layout has a distant resemblance to a church dome and nave; however, if so, this is a temple granting hagiographical attention to a secular scientist. It contains modern touches, such as the iron dome, but it also adheres to retardataire Neoclassic elements in the niches, arches, and columns. The arrangement suggests a tardy apology to Galileo by an aristocracy which had been slow to freely embrace his pioneering spirit of Enlightenment. It took two centuries for Florentines to honor their greatest scientist with a building. But that is not surprising, they had also been slow to bury Galileo inside a church. After his death in 1642, his interment in the main body of the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tombs of his father and other ancestors, was abandoned when papal authorities protested.

Gallery

Tribuna di galileo 01.JPG, View across anteroom showing lunette Tribuna di galileo, cupola.JPG, Glass and iron dome Galileo dimostra la legge della caduta dei gravi a Don Giovanni de' Medici, affresco di Giuseppe Bezzuoli, Tribuna di Galileo, Firenze.jpg, ''Galileo demonstrates laws of gravity'' Tribuna di galileo, abside 02.JPG, Apse and busts Galileo vecchio con i discepol, di Luigi Sabatelli, Tribuna di Galileo, Firenze.jpg, ''Galileo with disciples'' Riunione dell'Accademia del Cimento, affresco di Gaspero Martellini, Tribuna di Galileo, Firenze..jpg, ''Session of Accademia del Cimento'' Galileo osserva la lampada nel Duomo di Pisa, affresco di Luigi Sabatelli, Tribuna di Galileo, Firenze..jpg, ''Galileo in the Duomo of Pisa'' Galileo presenta il telescopio al Senato veneziano radunato sul campanile di S. Marco a Venezia, affresco di Luigi Sabatelli, Tribuna di Galileo, Firenze.jpg, ''Galileo before Senate of Venice''

References

External links

{{Authority control Neoclassical architecture in Florence Infrastructure completed in 1841 Museums in Florence Science museums in Italy Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze Cultural depictions of Galileo Galilei Monuments and memorials in Florence pt:Palazzo Torrigiani (Via Romana)#A Tribuna de Galileu