The Museo Galileo – Florence’s History of Science Museum

On the banks of the Arno lies a small and often missed museum. Hidden from the crowds milling outside the Uffizi, the Museo Galilei – Museo di Storia della Scienza (History of Science Museum) sits undisturbed in the quiet of the Piazza de’Guidici, a tranquil backwater in the heart of Renaissance Florence.

The museum’s origins are centuries old. It is housed in the 12th century Palazzo Castellini, which was known to Dante as the Castello d’Altafronte, (an important Florentine family involved in establishing the cloth trade, fundamental to the city’s growing economy.) In 1657, in memory of the recently deceased Galileo Galilei, the city of Florence founded the world’s first scientific institution, the Accademia del Cimento – the Accademy for Experimentation. From this beginning was fostered a passion not only for the discovery of scientific knowledge and principles, but also for their application in all areas of human understanding.

The Museo di Storia della Scienza may have begun as a shrine to the works of Galileo, but has grown to become both a record of, and a tribute to, the works of those scientists of a few centuries ago. Even in the heart of Florence, the nuances of the Renaissance mind are difficult to fully grasp. So many beliefs from the Middle Ages lingered to permeate through the explosion of knowledge and achievements in such differing fields. This was a time when men of science were often men of letters, or of art, or philosophy, dabbling equally well in music, poetry, science and politics. It is impossible to wander through the Palazzo Castellini without becoming infected by the enthusiasm and creativity so apparent in their inventions and discoveries.

The Medici grand-dukes once owned much of the collection. A new institute was founded in 1775, The Museum of Physics and Natural Sciences, by the grand-duke Pietro Leopardo of Lorraine. (The House of Lorraine ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from 1737, after the last Medici died without an heir.) Once displayed in the Uffizi, the Medici collection comprises a range of astronomical and mathematical instruments. Thermometers, hygrometers, quadrants, astrolabs, compasses, armillary spheres, some encrusted with semi-precious stones, are amongst the earlier inventions of the Accademia. Delicate spheres dating from the the 15th and 16th centuries illustrate the movement of the celestial bodies. To the ancient Greeks, the sphere was the most perfect of all shapes, and Ptolomy devised a series of ethereal spheres to supported the earth and heavens in ceaseless perfect motion, which thus created the celestial music.

Many of Galileo’s experiments into the laws of motion, velocity and accelration have been reproduced. Included amongst his original instruments are the telescopes by which he revolutionised astronomy and validated the theories of Copernicus (which then led to him being brought before The Inquisition), and the objective lens Galileo used when discovering Jupiter’s four largest satellites (now named the Galilean moons). Some of his notebooks are also on display.

An avid amateur chemist, Pietro Leopardo of Lorraine not only founded the new institution in 1775, he also modernised the Museum, designing a workshop for the building of scientific instruments, as well as space for experimentation. Until the mid-19th century, much of the best scientific equipment in Europe was either built here, or brought to the Museum from abroad. The Lorraine collection includes apparatus from his personal laboratory, as well as ornaments from his pharmacy.

In a room dedicated to medicine are a range of terracotta and wax models from the former Florentine hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. Many were used for teaching obstetrics, displaying abnormal foetal positions. Beside them is an extraordinary collection of late 18th century surgical instruments.

The Accademia is filled with elegance. Even the more mundane instruments have, at the very least, a refinement of style, reflecting a munificence of patronage. Scalpels and blades of dissection glisten, encrusted with diamonds and rubies; metal is inscribed with flowing script and entwined with patterns. Lions and unicorns engage in unending battle; dolphins and mythical sea-creatures frolic in rolling waves under billowing clouds. It is fascinating to remember that the foundations of modern knowledge were laid with these beautiful and delicate implements.

Medieval, Renaissand and modern Florence surround this museum. Narrow streets lead away form the piazza, peopled by locals intent on daily life. Elderly women in black pass carrying bags of vegetables from the market; men sit, and over a cup of coffee and a glass of something a little more potent, solve the problems of the world.

In the midst of this eclectic mix, on the Via Vaccereccia lies the Erboristeria. An ancient herbalist shop, it specialises in soaps, perfumes and cosmetics made to ancient recipes still used by religious orders throughout Tuscany. With its fragrances and small pots, the shop conjures up images of monks and nuns brewing their potions, using herbs and plants to make medicines which were used for centuries. These religious orders played a vital role in the fostering of scientific growth from the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance, for their writings and studies helped preserve many works of the Ancients which would’ve otherwise been lost to the West. Their rediscovery help foster the rebirth of scientific thought, allowing men such as Galileo to open their minds and take the first steps towards the knowledge we possess today.

(c) Anne Harrison 2011