On the lost portrait of Galileo by the Tuscan painter Santi di Tito

Abstract

We study here the first established image of Galileo from the engraving made by Giuseppe Calendi at the end of the eighteenth century after a lost portrait of 1601 by Santi di Tito. We show that the engraving cannot be an exact copy, as it contains several inaccuracies which are unlikely to have been present in the original painting. A recent claim of the discovery of the painting by Santi di Tito is examined, and some reasons for suspecting it to be a forgery are outlined. As an alternative, we suggest a connection between the engraving and a portrait attributed to Tintoretto (which is currently in the collection of the Padua Civic Museum). The engraving and the Padua painting look quite different but can be traced to a common origin if we assume that Calendi added the half body, copied the painting onto copper plate directly, and adjusted the shading slightly. In this way, several features and details of the engraving find a plausible explanation. Finally, we note a remarkable similarity between the Padua portrait and a figure included in a Cologne painting by Rubens dating to about 1602-1604, which was suggested by Huemer to be Galileo. <P />