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Galileo's Fingers And Tooth On Display

The finishing touches are being made to a rather special exhibition at the History of Science Museum in Florence this week.

Proudly on show in the Galileo room are the recently discovered two fingers and a tooth, belonging to the man considered to be the father of modern science. They are now reunited with a better preserved finger that has been on display for many years.

An art collector recently found the tooth, thumb and finger belonging to the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei who died in the 17th century, at an auction selling reliquaries, or relic holders.

The body parts, along with another finger and a vertebrae, were cut from Galileo's corpse by scientists and historians during a burial ceremony held 95 years after his death in 1642.

The relics were passed from collector to collector until they went missing in 1905. The remaining finger and the vertebrae have been conserved since 1737 in a mummified state in museums in Florence and Padua....
Read entire article at Dig Triad