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A half-length portrait of Galileo, the Italian mathematician, astronomer and experimental philosopher, in old age. The original was painted in Florence in 1636 by Justus Sustermans. It was sent by Galileo to a friend in Paris but soon returned to Florence and has been in the Uffizi Collection since at least 1678. Compared to Sustermans' slightly later portrait of Galileo seated in a chair, in repose (also in the National Maritime Museum Collection, BHC2700), this portrait probably shows him standing. Unlike the seated version, the torso is also slightly turned to the right but with the sitter's head turning left and looking upward, making this a more dynamic image. This portrait, with two other portraits of Galileo (BHC2700 and BHC2699) and two Galileo busts, was formerly in the Gabb Collection of scientific instruments, which was purchased en bloc for the Museum by Sir James Caird in 1937.
Title
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
Date
1879
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 61 x W 51 cm
Accession number
BHC2701
Work type
Painting
