Assayer
Dimensions: 18” H X 24” W X 1.5” D. Landscape orientation.
Acrylic paint, open-sourced printed materials overlaid with high gloss varnish.
Original Artwork $750 + shipping.
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Galileo Galilei
This collage celebrates the achievements and discoveries of Galileo Galilei. Born in Pisa, Italy, on February 15, 1564, he studied at the Universities of Pisa and Padua. He is best known for his discovery of the 4 largest moons of Jupiter, proving the validity of the Heliocentric theory, and his work on falling objects. Popular culture has him dropping two cannonballs of differing masses off the leaning tower of Pisa and professing that all falling objects accelerate at the same rate regardless of their size, shape, or mass (in a vacuum). My collage portrays these achievements using historical, informative, and colorful graphics. The picture of Galileo in the bottom left of the collage shows an abstract cross falling across his face. This image depicts how the church tried to color his outlook and research. He refused to be blinded by the church's dogmatic views, and he saw "through" the cross to the scientific truth of his discoveries. He was put on trial by the Roman Catholic Inquisition and condemned in 1633 to house arrest for the duration of his life for proving that the planets revolve around the sun (the heliocentric theory) and that the church sanctioned theory of geocentrism (the planets and the sun revolve around the Earth) was incorrect church dogma.
He also studied the resistance of bodies to separation, the cause of cohesion, naturally accelerated motion, the motion of projectiles and pendulums, the force of percussion, principles of relativity, inertia, and gravity. He vastly improved the telescope and was then able to view and record Jupiter's largest moons, sunspots, moon craters and the phases of Venus. He improved the compass and invented the thermoscope (an instrument that indicates temperature changes). He wrote numerous seminal books and manuscripts that shaped modern astronomy, physics, mathematics, engineering and established the scientific method as we know it today. He is known as the "father of modern science." Galileo died on January 8, 1642, in Arcetri, Italy. To find out more about the elements used in this collage, please see an explanation below.
Elements of Art
02151564
01081642
Photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with two cannonballs of different masses falling...
The picture of Galileo
Abstract cross running over Galileo's portrait represents the Inquisition
Signature
Father of Modern Science
Jupiter
Io
Europa
Ganymede
Callisto
Astronomy
Kinematics
Heliocentrism
1632
A page taken from one of Galileo's manuscripts
Phases of Venus
Drawings of the moon
Galileo's diagram of the Copernican (heliocentric) system of the universe
Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger)
Il Saggiatore (The Assayer)
Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo
(Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems)
Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze
(Discourse and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences)
Explanation of Elements
02151564=Galileo was born
01081642=Galileo died
Photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with two cannonballs of different masses falling...: Between 1589 and 1592, Galileo Galilei, who lived in Pisa at the time, is said to have dropped two cannonballs of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass, in keeping with the law of free fall. The primary source for this is the biography Racconto istorico della vita di Galileo Galilei (Historical Account of the Life of Galileo Galilei), written by Galileo's pupil and secretary Vincenzo Viviani in 1654, but only published in 1717, long after his death.
The portrait of Galileo Galilei is from an etching on Italy money.
Abstract cross running over Galileo's portrait represents the Inquisition: The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes relating to religious doctrine or alternative religious doctrine or beliefs. The publication of Starry Messenger in 1610, which outlined Galileo's discovery of the four brightest moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus, made him a target of the Inquisition. The Inquisition began their investigation in 1610, but Galileo was well liked, so he staved off conviction. He proposed a theory of tides in 1616 and comets in 1619, which proved that the Earth was not stationary. Finally, in the book Dialogo (1632), Galileo chose the character of Simplicio to champion the geocentric, church-sanctioned, cosmological theory that asserted that the Earth was stationary and in the center of the solar system. Sagredo and Salvati, the other two characters, peppered Simplicio with scientific evidence that proved the geocentric theory incorrect and made his character look "Simple." This embarrassed high-ranking church officials and lead to the heresy charge levied against Galileo in 1633. Galileo was under house arrest until he died in 1642.
Galileo Galilei's signature from Wikipedia
The "father of modern science" was a name associated with Galileo. In the book, The Assayer, Galileo proposed that analysis of the natural world be done using mathematical tools instead of philosophical arguments. This idea was the birth of the scientific method. Galileo used data and mathematical analysis to prove his hypotheses throughout his life, which made him the first modern scientist.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun in our solar system.
Io is the innermost and third-largest of the Galilean moons.
Europa is the smallest of the Galilean moons.
Ganymede is the largest of the Galilean moons.
Callisto is the second-largest moon after Ganymede.
A simple mnemonic can help you remember the order of the Galilean moons from innermost outward: I Eat Green Carrots!
Astronomy is the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe.
Kinematics is the branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of objects without reference to the forces which cause the motion.
Heliocentrism is a cosmological model in which the sun is positioned at the center of our solar system while the planets revolve around it.
1632 was the year
Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo
(Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems)
was published.
A page taken from one of Galileo's manuscripts. It was on this page that Galileo first noted an observation of the moons of Jupiter. This observation upset the notion that all celestial bodies must revolve around the Earth. Galileo published a full description in Sidereus Nuncius in March 1610.
Phases of Venus: Using his telescope, Galileo found that Venus went through phases, just like our Moon. But, the nature of these phases could only be explained by Venus going around the Sun, not the Earth, adding to the body of evidence that the Sun was at the center of our solar system, as stated by the Copernican theory of heliocentrism.
Drawings of the moon: Galileo produced this extremely famous set of six watercolors of the Moon in its various phases "from life", as he observed the Earth's satellite through a telescope in the autumn of 1609. They represent the first realistic depiction of the Moon in history.
Galileo's diagram of the Copernican (heliocentric) system of the universe. Also showing his own discovery, the four satellites (moons) of Jupiter. From Galileo Galilei Dialogo, Florence, 1632. Engraving. Artist: Galileo Galilei.
Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger) was published in 1610. Using his newly improved telescope, Galileo was the first to view and record, in this manuscript, the mountains and craters on the moon and the brightest of Jupiter's moons; Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Il Saggiatore (The Assayer) was published in 1623. The Assayer is considered the first work to establish the scientific method. In this book, Galileo outlines the idea that nature should be tested with mathematical tools rather than those of scholastic philosophy. This was revolutionary at the time!
Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo
(Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems)
In this seminal book, published in 1632, Galileo uses the framework of the Socratic method to compare the Copernican system (Heliocentric or Sun-centered) to the church endorsed Ptolemaic system (Geocentric or Earth-centered). The three characters in the book are Simplicio, Sagredo, and Salviati. The story unfolds over the course of several days as they discuss the validity of each system. Ultimately, the heliocentric model was proven to be correct using Galileo's discoveries of Venus' phases and the apparent movement of sunspots. The moon's topography and the four moons of Jupiter proved that the Earth was not stationary.
Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche, intorno a due nuove scienze
(Discourse and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences)
This book was published in 1638 in Holland, where the Inquisition did not have the power to deny publication. This was Galileo's last book and was written in a similar Socratic method as his famous "Dialogo." The three characters, Simplicio, Sagredo, and Salviati, represent Galileo as a young, middle-aged, and older man, respectively. They converse over several topics, such as the resistance of bodies to separation, cause of cohesion, naturally accelerated motion, the motion of projectiles, and the force of percussion.
References:
“Galileo Galilei.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei.
“Oxford Languages and Google - English.” Oxford Languages, languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.