{ "viewingDirection": "left-to-right", "metadata": [ { "label": "Uniform Title", "value": "Dialogo" }, { "label": "Origin Place", "value": "Florence" }, { "label": "Physical Location", "value": "Cambridge University Library" }, { "label": "Extent", "value": "Leaf height: 211 mm, width: 211 mm." }, { "label": "Funding", "value": "" }, { "label": "Abstract", "value": "
The frontispiece of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems<\/i>, published in the summer of 1632, was engraved by the young Stefano della Bella (1610-1664). Under a banner showing the title of the work and the dedication to the ruling Medici, Duke Ferdinand II, three bearded men immersed in deep conversation stand in front of a harbor backdrop. By inscriptions on their garments they are identified as Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus. Aristotle and Ptolemy occupy the left half of the picture. Aristotle, bent on a stick, and thus apparently having difficulty standing up, points to an armillary that Ptolemy, whose dark eye sockets indicate poor eyesight if not blindness, holds in front of him. The right half of the picture is occupied only by Copernicus, whose facial features, however, resemble those of Galileo. In his left hand he holds a tellurium, and with his right, he gestures towards the armillary with a certain detachment. There is a clear opposition of views as Aristotle argues the case for Ptolemy against Copernicus. The harbor scene is a reference to Galileo's experiences in the Venetian Arsenal, and the fact that the Dialogo<\/i> was originally to be called the Dialogue on the Tides <\/i>(Dialogo del flusso e reflusso del mare<\/i>), since Galileo saw the phenomenon of the tides as his main argument in favour of the Copernican system. The pro-Copernican stance of the Dialogo<\/i> and its opposition to 'lame' Aristotle and 'blind' Ptolemy was visibly manifest in the frontispiece. A Latin translation of the Dialogo<\/i> by Matthias Bernegger appeared in 1635 and was to circulate widely. It was published with a frontispiece that closely followed the original design of della Bella, but in this version Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus were given clearer features.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Date of Creation", "value": "1632" }, { "label": "Title", "value": "Frontispiece of Galileo's Dialogo" }, { "label": "Material", "value": "paper" }, { "label": "Classmark", "value": "T*.4.18(D)" }, { "label": "Note(s)", "value": "
Links to other items:<\/p>
Astronomers, representations of: CUL L*.9.44(C) (Capital letter with astronomer and armillary sphere)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL Norton.c.32 (Personification of Astronomy)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL M.7.36 (Frontispiece weighing up cosmological systems)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL L*.9.44(C) (Frontispiece with geographers and astronomers)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL M.8.10 (Frontispiece to the Rudolphine Tables<\/em>)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL M.10.47 (Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus with tellurium and armillary sphere)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): Wren T.18.31 (Frontispiece to Hevelius' Selenographia<\/em>)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL Syn.8.64.51 (Heliocentric cosmos with Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: Whipple STORE 55:13 (Title-page with zodiac signs)<\/a><\/p> Astronomers, representations of: CUL M.10.47 (Portrait of Galileo Galilei engraved by Jacob van der Heyden)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: Whipple STORE 55:2 (Title-page with armillary sphere)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL Inc.5.B.3.96c[1702] (Personification of Astronomy)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: Whipple STORE 55:13 (The author and instruments for astronomy and navigation)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: Wren T.23.8 (Armillary sphere)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL Norton.b.14 (Personification of Astronomy, with large armillary sphere)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: CUL Adams.5.55.1 (Terrestrial globe)<\/a><\/p> Allegorical frontispieces showing astronomy and its fathers (ancients and moderns): CUL Syn.6.51.5 (Personification of Astronomy)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: CUL Qq*.2.158(B) (Mystical frontispiece with heavenly rose and the portrait of Saint Bathildis)<\/a><\/p> Frontispieces and title-pages with religious, allegorical or emblematic representations: CUL Qq*.2.158(B) (Title-page with the bear emblem of the Orsini family)<\/a><\/p>