Medicean Skies

The telescope – as it was referred to by the members of the Accademia dei Lincei – or Galilean spy-glass appeared during 17th-century innovative and experimental turmoil as an extraordinary and powerful new device. Increasing the range of sight, the instrument met with great success and swiftly became a collector’s item. Even the splendid Medicean collections housed in the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti counted various specimens of telescopes. The exhibition is dedicated to this “Medicean sky” unveiled by Galileo and then explored by 17th-century scientists. Margherita Abbozzo’s Galileo’s skies – a silk-screen printing on metalized paper, handmade as a unique specimen in 2000 – is also on display. This artwork is the result of research begun in 1994 and presented in 1999 at the Arcetri’s Astrophysical Observatory. In the same year the book Stelle (Stars) was published, where two artists –Margherita Abbozzo and the poet, Mario Luzi– and two scientists –Margherita Hack and Franco Pacini– explored the relationship between contemporary man and the universe.

Exhibition Dates