Galileo at LACMA
Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of Galileo Galilei , 1624. Louvre Easy to miss in LACMA's sprawling "Mapping the Infinite: Cosmologies Across Cultures" is Ottavio Leoni's famous portrait drawing of Galileo, on loan from the Louvre. Though the pioneering astronomer and physicist had his issues with the Catholic Church, the Medici celebrated him as an exemplar of Florentine genius. Such artists as Justus Suttermans, Santi di Tito, Domenico Tintoretto, Joachim Von Sandrart and Charles Mellin created portraits of Galileo, though Leoni's drawing has a convincing freshness that most of the others lack. In 1737 Galileo's right middle finger was encased in a reliquary, completing his canonization as secular saint. The middle finger of Galileo's right hand , about 1737. Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence (not in LACMA show)
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