Galileo
continued to receive visitors until 1642, when, after suffering fever and heart
palpitations, he died on 8 January 1642, aged 77. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando
II, wished to bury him in the main body of the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tombs of his father and other ancestors, and
to erect a marble mausoleum in his honour. These plans were scrapped, however,
after Pope Urban VIII and his nephew, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, protested,
because Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for "vehement
suspicion of heresy". He was instead buried in a small room next to the
novices' chapel at the end of a corridor from the southern transept of the
basilica to the sacristy. He was reburied in the main body of the basilica in
1737 after a monument had been erected there in his honour; during this move,
three fingers and a tooth were removed from his remains. One of these fingers, the
middle finger from Galileo's right hand, is currently on exhibition at the Museo
Galileo in Florence, Italy.Saturday, May 19, 2012
Death
Galileo
continued to receive visitors until 1642, when, after suffering fever and heart
palpitations, he died on 8 January 1642, aged 77. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando
II, wished to bury him in the main body of the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tombs of his father and other ancestors, and
to erect a marble mausoleum in his honour. These plans were scrapped, however,
after Pope Urban VIII and his nephew, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, protested,
because Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for "vehement
suspicion of heresy". He was instead buried in a small room next to the
novices' chapel at the end of a corridor from the southern transept of the
basilica to the sacristy. He was reburied in the main body of the basilica in
1737 after a monument had been erected there in his honour; during this move,
three fingers and a tooth were removed from his remains. One of these fingers, the
middle finger from Galileo's right hand, is currently on exhibition at the Museo
Galileo in Florence, Italy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment