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Notes
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Galileo was the Italian astronomer and experimental philosopher who, among other things, worked on enhancing the power of the refracting telescope. This made it possible for him to see that the Moon had mountains and Jupiter had satellites, although his astronomical theories brought him into famous controversy with the Catholic Church. From 1592 to 1610 he was (as the inscription 'GALLILEUS/GALLILEUS/MATHUS' shows) a master of mathematics at Padua. This is the earliest surviving painting of him. The portrait has a longstanding attribution to the Venetian artist Domenico Robusti, called 'Tintoretto', as was his more famous father, Jacopo. This has been perpetuated by its association with an oval-format engraving first published in 1820, which has an inscription stating it to be 'after a lost portrait of Tintoretto' (i.
This portrait is one of a group of three oils and two busts of Galileo that were in the Gabb collection when it was purchased en bloc for the Museum in 1937. For the other oil portraits see BHC2700 and BHC2701.
Title
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Date
c.1602–1607
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 66 x W 53.3 cm
Accession number
BHC2699
Work type
Painting
