Individuals

Galilei, Galileo di Vincenzo di Michelangelo di Giovanni di Michele a

Description

Galileo Galilei is widely recognized as a primary figure in the history of science, known for his studies in natural philosophy (what is now called physics), astronomy, and mathematics. His work riled church officials, but he was allowed burial in his ancestral church of Santa Croce, where his family had installed tombs honoring his namesake maestro Galileo Galilei in the church nave as well as an early family grave in the church crypt. Galileo would not receive his own monumental tomb until 1737 despite plans for one by grand duke of Tuscany Ferdinand II that were sidelined at his death in 1670.

Birth Family	Galilei
Gender	male
Age at Death	77
Database ID	15929

Life Dates

February 15th, 1564	birth
January 8th, 1642	death

Memorials (3 total)

S. Croce 038f.1 ossa e ceneri del astronomo Galileo Galilei	January 8th, 1642	b
S. Croce 038f.2 Tomba monumentale di Galileo Galilei, 1737	1737
S. Croce 038f.2 Tomba monumentale di Galileo Galilei, 1737	1737 to present

Related Individuals (3 total)

son of Galilei, Vincenzo di Michelagnolo di Giovanni di Michele di Giovanni
son of Giulia di Cosimo Ammannati di Pescia (uxor Vincenzio di Michelangiolo Galilei)
colleague of Viviani Franchi, Vincenzio di Jacopo di Michelangelo	1638 to 1642

Extended Family (4 total)

Grandparents	Galilei, Michelangiolo di Giovanni di Michele di Giovanni di Tommaso Maddalena di Carlo di Bergo di S. Maria a Monte (uxor Michelangelo di Giovanni Galilei)
Great grandparents	Galilei, Giovanni di Michele di Giovanni di Tommaso di Bonaiuto
Great great grandparents	Galilei, Michele di Giovanni di Tommaso di Bonaiuto (ritagliatore)

Locations (2 total)

Arcetri, Florence, Tuscany, Italy	death	January 8th, 1642
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy	birth	February 15th, 1564

Sources (2 total)

"Albero genealogico Galileiano"
ASF, Manoscritti, 624, Rosselli, Sepoltuario Fiorentino, 1657 (copy)	pp. 268, 290

Notes

[a] Peter Machamer and David Marshall Miller, "Galileo Galilei", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/galileo/ .
[b] Despite some popular belief, Galileo was not banned from having a church burial. While Pope Urban VIII did not allow a special monument, he did send a special blessing to the scientist on his death bed. Why the friars put him in a deposit and not in one of his family tombs in the complex is unclear, but it was likely because removal to a new tomb appropriate to his fame was anticipated. A little over a decade past his death, Stefano Rosselli noted Galileo's burial in the small room, that the "very famous and never sufficiently praised mathematician and astronomer" had but put there until a tomb "commensurate with his merit" was built in the church proper. He notes that Grand Duke Ferdinand II wanted to use the site opposite Michelangelo's great monument, but that the project had stalled at the monarch's death.