Lost and Found: Galileo’s Fingers

Galileo Galilei’s fingers had mysteriously disappeared from his dead body after being last heard of in 1905. Until this year

For 272 years, Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science, had been in his resting place deep under the ground without his thumb, index finger, middle finger, one vertebra and a tooth. They were taken off his dead body when it was moved to his final grave. Of these, one finger and the vertebrae were accounted for, while the others mysteriously disappeared after being last heard of in 1905. Until this year that is. Recently, a collector who bought a wooden case along with a wooden bust of the great scientist in an auction, found inside it a glass vase which had two fingers and a tooth. The Museo di Storia della Scienza’s director Paolo Galluzzi has confirmed the authenticity of the body part and the museum will put it up on display from 2010.

body partGalileo Galileimuseum