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Historical Journeys Walk in Galileo's Footsteps in Rome, Florence, And

Historical Journeys Walk in Galileo's Footsteps in Rome, Florence, And

Historical journeys Walk in ’s footsteps in , , and other haunts of the great Experience astronomer. Galileo’sby William Sheehan

t isn’t hard to find the influence of (1564–1642) on the history of astronomy. After all, he was the first to use a telescope to study the heavens systematically and objectively. He discovered the ’s craggy mountains, Jupiter’s four major Isatellites, and the phases of . But that’s Galileo the scientist. Who was the man? To find some clues, I went to Rome and Florence, where Galileo spent the prime of his life and ended up under house arrest for life after a disastrous encounter with the Roman . I decided to retrace the master’s footsteps in Italy — to visit the places where he lived and worked in hopes of absorbing some- thing of the spirit of the times in the 17th century when Galileo helped Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) was born in Pisa and taught mathematics at . overturn what people thought they He lived in Florence after 1610, where he wrote his greatest scientific works. understood about the celestial realm. Science Museum Pictorial

56 Astronomy • May© 092010 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.Astronomy.com 1609 Galileo presents a telescope Astronomer and mathematician to the Venetian Senate, which Galileo Galilei lived portions of bestows on him life tenure at his life in Pisa and Padua, but he the University of Padua. considered himself a Florentine. 1592–1610 His scientific achievements at Chair of mathematics first drew acclaim and privilege at University of Padua, — but later brought him into Venetian Republic. 1610 conflict with Catholic doctrine Moves to Florence. and ended in humiliation and house arrest. Astronomy: Jay Smith

1588 Obtains lectureship in math- 1616 ematics at University of Pisa. On a visit to Rome, Galileo is cautioned not to “hold or defend” Copernican theory. 1631 Moves to in Arcetri near Florence. Experience 1564 Born in Pisa.

1642 Dies in Arcetri.

1638 grants Galileo’s Italy permission for Galileo to move 1633 to Florence for February: Arrives in Rome health reasons. for trial by Inquisition of Rome. He is already com- pletely blind. June: Admits and abjures heretical beliefs at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

December: Returns to villa at Arcetri under house arrest for life.

Roman rendezvous , they are mere shells gut- (1468–1549), the to whom Coper- Numerous people, such as the English ted for raw materials to furnish monu- nicus dedicated De revolutionibus orbium poet John Milton, began to beat their way ments and tombs. Even the Caesars and coelestium (“On the Revolutions of the to Galileo’s door even during the great popes who ruled here, whose power once Heavenly Spheres”). The 1543 treatise man’s lifetime. For logistical reasons — reached out across the known world, are detailing a -centered cosmos cap- airport location — I started in Rome, lost in the accumulated wreckage of the tured Galileo’s imagination and ulti- where Galileo became a for sci- ages. Yet it is possible to find traces of mately contributed to his downfall. ence. Lost among the strata and ruins of Galileo’s life within the walls of Vatican Paul III rests on one side of the Cathe- millennia, his footprints are barely trace- City, the sovereign state nested within dra Petri, an elaborate reliquary contain- able among those of the millions who Rome’s boundaries. ing a wooden chair purported (falsely) to have lived and died in the ancient city. St. Peter’s Basilica is among the Vati- be the throne of St. Peter. On the oppo- The Roman palaces of the Caesars and can’s most impressive monuments. site side of the Petri molder the the temples of antiquity are melancholy Inside, I combed various tombs and remains of a critical player in Galileo’s ruins. Ransacked by the and eventually found the crypt of Paul III life: Maffeo Barberini (1568–1644).

www.Astronomy.com 57 The grand columns in St. Peter’s Piazza in Rome and the high of St. Peter’s Basilica (background) convey the Vatican’s power in Galileo’s time. What the Florentine astronomer learned by looking through his crude telescope put him into a dangerous conflict with church doctrine. J. Eicher

St. Peter’s gilded interior is a treasure trove of art and . In this photo, the church’s dome illuminates the vaulted halls below. David J. Eicher

Barberini was once Galileo’s friend Galileo, heretic After meeting with Urban, Galileo and supporter. But after becoming Pope While within the walls of , I thought he had received permission to Urban VIII in 1623, he demanded Galil- took a long look at its first observatory, write a book, Dialogue Concerning the eo’s prosecution for allegedly upholding often called the Tower of the Winds. Two Chief World Systems (1632), as long the Copernican theory, although really Established by Gregory XI, pope from as he didn’t hold or defend the Coperni- for disobedience to church authority in 1370 to 1378, the tower stands atop the can system. In the book, three characters an age of absolutism. Vatican Secret Archives where an infa- debate the merits of the Sun-centered Urban was not a lovable character. mous document was stored that would Copernican system versus that of the tra- When he died, the citizens of Rome, who later figure in Galileo’s downfall. ditional Earth-centered cosmos. had long sweated under the yoke of Galileo had come to Rome in 1611 But Galileo miscalculated by present- financing his construction projects and and triumphantly demonstrated the tele- ing Pope Urban’s own arguments in the wars, expressed their gratitude to him by scope to the Jesuits of the Collegio mouth of a dimwitted character named toppling one of his busts. Romano, who after months of trying had Simplicio. The offended pope unleashed In the en route to finally confirmed his observations. He the Inquisition of Rome, which called the , I couldn’t resist pok- returned in 1616 to meet with Cardinal Galileo to the Vatican for trial in 1633. ing my head through some of the open Bellarmine, who warned him not to After waiting 2 months in the Villa windows into the gardens. I thought of “hold or defend” the literal truth of the Medici, the astronomer was finally the birds that Urban had ordered killed Copernican system. questioned by the Inquisitors. so they wouldn’t interfere with his sleep. In private, Bellarmine and the ruling Galileo was prosecuted on the basis of prince of Rome, , were a questionable injunction retrieved from William Sheehan is an author, psychiatrist, and inclined to declare Copernicanism heret- the Vatican Secret Archives. Dating to amateur astronomer in Willmar, Minnesota. His ical. However, Cardinal Caetani and Bar- 1616, the document was neither signed latest book is A Passion for Planets, being pub- berini dissuaded them. When Barberini nor notarized. It claimed Galileo had lished by Springer during the International Year was elected pope, Galileo anticipated a agreed not to hold or defend the Coper- of Astronomy 2009. new golden era for liberal Catholics. nican theory or to discuss it, as he clearly

58 Astronomy • May 09 The Sistine Hall is part of the , one of the oldest collections The Jesuit Collegio Romano, or College of Rome, was a major center for of books and manuscripts in the world. Among its holdings are the exten- scientific research in Galileo’s day. In 1611, scholars at the college confirmed sive records of Galileo’s prosecution for heresy. David J. Eicher the accuracy of what Galileo saw through his spyglass. William Sheehan had in Dialogue. The Inquisition con- Galileo was born in Pisa February 15, Galileo later recalled the 18 years in demned Galileo on “vehement suspicion 1564, and later pursued his education at Padua as the happiest in his life. But he of heresy.” He remained under house the University of Pisa. Even then, the sci- was restlessly ambitious, and also at heart arrest until his death in 1642. entist in Galileo was blooming. He a Florentine. He had spent his teenage The persecution of Galileo was not reportedly began to consider the laws years in that Tuscan city and, in Septem- without precedent. A statue stands in the that govern the swing of a ber 1610, returned to stay there after Campo del Fiore in Rome, where in 1600 while observing the motions of a swing- being appointed Philosopher and Math- Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake ing chandelier in the town’s cathedral. ematician to the Grand Duke of . for teaching heretical views such as the However, Galileo ran into the opposi- In Florence, one can easily imagine Copernican doctrine. tion of conservative scholars in Pisa. He Galileo strolling the city’s bustling streets, moved on to Padua, where he lectured in perhaps walking through the Piazza della Young Galileo’s Italy mathematics and made all the telescopic Signoria with its arrogant equestrian Rome was merely the stage on which observations of the Moon and Jupiter statue of the Grand Duke Cosimo I Galileo’s late downfall played out. He described in his 1610 book, Sidereus de’ Medici. One can picture him climbing spent most of his years in Pisa and Flor- Nuncius (“Sidereal Messenger”). the steps of the , the town ence, in the northern province of Tus- hall of Florence, to cany, and in Padua, then part of the demonstrate the tele- Venetian Republic. scope he offered in March 1610 as a gift to his patron Cosimo II de’ Medici (grandson of Cosimo I). The telescope and one of Galileo’s fingers — still pointing heav- enward after all these years — are preserved in Florence’s Institute and Museum of the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was a History of Science. proponent of Copernicus’ Sun-centered theory. The lens, cracked in Galileo’s lifetime, This relief on a statue in the Campo del Fiore, is carefully protected behind glass at the Rome, depicts Bruno’s trial before the Roman museum. The sight of it sent more shiv- Inquisition. He was burned at the stake for her- ers down my spine than the cumulative esy February 17, 1600. William Sheehan effect of all the tombs of the popes in St. Galileo’s onetime supporter, Cardinal Maffeo Peter’s. It was with such a lens that Gali- Barberini, was elected Pope Urban VIII in 1623. A leo made the most important series of decade later, he unleashed the Inquisition on the astronomical discoveries ever. astronomer. Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology In Florence, Galileo continued to pro- duce important scientific works. At the

www.Astronomy.com 59 The vineyards and meadows of the Tuscan countryside on the outskirts of Flor- ence served as the backdrop of Galileo’s final years. In 1631, he moved to the Villa Il Gioiello (inset) on the hill of Arcetri. William Sheehan A bust of Galileo stares out palatial Villa L’Ombrellino, where he from one wall of the Villa Il Gioiello, “the jewel.” William Sheehan lived from 1617 until 1631, he wrote Il Saggiatore (“”), a treatise on mathematics and , and the his favorite. The sister is the heroine of villa, set on the hill of Arcetri south of Dialogue that led to his persecution. Dava Sobel’s bestselling book Galileo’s the city, Galileo could see the convent. Daughter, which poignantly reveals the It’s on the street below the tower called Into the Tuscan hills depth of the bond between father and the Torre del Gallo, reputed to be the Galileo doubtless journeyed often to the daughter. Sister baked her place where Galileo conducted experi- outskirts of Florence to the Convent of father cakes and starched the broad white ments and observations. San Matteo where his two daughters by collars in which Sustermans, the The trip to Arcetri is unforgettable. his Venetian mistress painter to the Medici court, would later One route begins at the ramparts of the were cloistered. Virginia, who took vows paint him. (Gaze upon the original in Fort . Then one proceeds into as Sister Maria Celeste, was the eldest and Florence’s Gallery.) the countryside along the narrow and In 1631, Galileo, now 67 years old, enchanting Via San Leonardo between moved to the Villa Il Gioiello, “the jewel,” enclosed walls and groups of fine houses. to be closer to his daughters. From the The route also winds past the Osserva- torio Astrofisico di Arcetri (the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory), which still Sister Maria Celeste lived at the Convent of conducts astronomical research today. It San Matteo in Arcetri, is just a stone’s throw from Galileo’s villa where a modern and easily visible, below the Torre del stained-glass win- Gallo, on the hills in the near distance. dow commemo- The Convent of San Matteo is just rates the close relationship she down the street from Il Gioiello, where had with her father, admirers of Galileo’s Daughter would Galileo. William Sheehan enjoy visiting. Unfortunately, fire almost completely destroyed the original struc- This dining area is all ture. Only the dining area, or refectory, that remains of the original Convent of San Matteo, lifelong residence of Galileo’s remains of the walls within which Sister daughters Virginia (Sister Maria Celeste) and Maria Celeste spent her life while her Livia (Sister Arcangela). William Sheehan father explored the sky. Don’t miss the modern stained glass in the convent cha- more easily visit his doctors. After this pel depicting Galileo and his daughter. brief interlude, he was back at Il Gioiello in September 1638 when John Milton, a The end days 30-year-old poet from England, visited At Il Gioiello, Galileo watched the candle him there, “in darkness, and with dan- burn out of his last days as a prisoner gers compassed round.” under house arrest. The untimely death Galileo died January 8, 1642. At first of his favorite daughter in 1634 — a blow — because Urban continued his persecu- from which Galileo never really recov- tion of Galileo even in death — the ered — came the year after his prosecu- astronomer was not allowed burial in the tion in Rome. The same year, suffering main church in Florence. So he rested for from a painful hernia, he applied to the more than a century in the small convent Inquisition to be allowed to move to chapel in Florence before finally being Florence to be closer to his doctors. The reinterred in a grand tomb in the main church refused church, the Basilica di his petition and warned Santa Croce. Galileo’s him that any further ope Urban VIII resting place is right requests would land across from the tomb Galileo’s influence extended into art, as shown him in prison. continued his of . in this 1612 portrait, Assumption of the Blessed Alone, depressed, Grand as his Virgin, by the painter . The Moon she and in constant ill persecution of Galileo baroque tomb is, don’t stands on is the craggy “imperfect” Moon of Gal- health, he worked to P look for Galileo’s ileo, not the smooth and pure Moon seen in other portraits of Mary. William Sheehan complete his master- even in death. monument there. piece, Discourse on the Rather, gaze at his , which laid the founda- heavens. Look at the Moon, at Jupiter Rome, the Pauline Chapel of the Basilica tions of modern physics. The book was with its ever-revolving satellites, at Venus di . smuggled out of Italy and published in whose phases he first saw, at the Milky In his last work, Cigoli painted a por- 1636 in the . Way with its innumerable stars. These trait of the Blessed Virgin unlike any Galileo made his last astronomical celestial objects will carry Galileo’s name other. Other portraits portrayed Mary discovery — the Moon’s slight wobble, or to future generations. standing on a perfectly smooth and “libration” — in July 1637. At the time he For another testament to how radi- unblemished representation of the Moon. was able to see only a bit with his left eye. cally Galileo changed our perception of Earth’s luminous satellite, after all, was a Months later, he went completely blind. the celestial realm, seek out the Assump- symbol of purity — just like Mary. But At last, in 1638, the Roman authorities tion of the Blessed Virgin. It’s a work by Cigoli’s 1612 painting shows the Virgin’s showed mercy to Galileo. He received Galileo’s Florentine friend, the painter feet upon an orb with craggy craters and permission to move for several months to Cigoli. The remains today at one mountains — Galileo’s Moon. his house in Florence so that he could of the most prominent religious sites in On my last morning in Florence, I before dawn to catch a cab to the airport. On the way, Galileo’s Moon played hide- and-seek with the clouds. I could not help thinking of what the 19th-century French astronomy writer Flammarion wrote when Florentine astronomer Giovanni Battista Donati placed one of Galileo’s telescopes in his hands. “After sunset I recaptured the spirit of the Florentine astronomer on one of the beautiful Italian terraces just as the stars were coming out,” Flammarion recalled. “With feverish impatience I turned this marvelous tube toward the new worlds that he had dis- covered in the heavens. I recalled that he had shown these sights to those who were incredulous; he still shows them to us today from his grave.” (left), part of the Monumental Complex of Santa Croce, Florence, was Galileo’s first burial site. Pope Urban VIII would not allow Galileo to be buried in the main church, the Basilica di Read an interview with author William Sheehan at www.Astronomy.com/toc. Santa Croce (right). He was reinterred in the basilica a century later. William Sheehan

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