About
Modernity's middle finger.
It is a fascinating irony that the finger of an enemy of the church has come to be venerated and kept in a shrine, receiving the same treatment as a saintly relic. It was Galileo’s long bony finger that underwent such a peculiar journey - it took numerous years for it to age into something worth snatching from his skeletal hand, which was done by Anton Francesco Gori in 1737, 95 years after Galileo’s death. The precious item was passed around over the course of two centuries before finally coming to rest at the Florence History of Science Museum, now known as the Galileo Museum.
