Yes. Museo Galileo in Florence says it preserves the only two surviving telescopes made by Galileo Galilei, and its catalogue lists three relics from his right hand: the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. The objects are displayed in Room VII, “Galileo’s New World.” The museum provides a specific removal and custody history for the middle finger; that history should not be assumed to apply to the other two digits.
Which Galileo objects are on display?
The catalogue for Room VII lists Galileo’s two surviving telescopes, an objective lens associated with his observations of Jupiter’s satellites, the right-hand thumb, index finger, and middle finger, and a tooth. The room is titled “Galileo’s New World.” Museo Galileo’s Room VII catalogue identifies the group of objects.
The phrase “three of his fingers” is often used loosely. More precisely, the museum lists three digits from Galileo’s right hand: a thumb and two fingers, the index and middle fingers.
How do the two telescopes differ?
Museo Galileo describes these as the only two telescopes built by Galileo that survive. They differ in tube construction, catalogue date, length, and approximate magnification:
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| Museum catalogue entry | Construction and covering | Approximate magnification | Catalogue date | Recorded length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory 2428 | Tube made from wood strips, covered in red leather with gold decoration | About 21× | Late 1609–early 1610 | 927 mm |
| Inventory 2427 | Two wooden shells held together with wire and covered in paper | About 14× | About 1610 | 1,273 mm |
The figures describe the museum’s objects, not a general specification for every telescope Galileo used. The first telescope’s original eyepiece was lost and replaced in the nineteenth century, according to its catalogue record.
See the museum’s overview of Galileo’s telescope and the separate catalogue records for inventory 2428 and inventory 2427.
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What could Galileo see through them?
The telescope used a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece. Museo Galileo notes that the design could exceed twenty-fold magnification, but it had a narrow field of view and suffered from spherical and chromatic aberration. Galileo used his telescopes to observe and draw celestial features and to make angular measurements. The museum’s telescope multimedia entry also identifies an octagonal telescope facsimile made in 2010; a facsimile is not one of the surviving originals.
What is known about the fingers?
The Room VII catalogue lists the right thumb, index finger, and middle finger as relics. The museum’s dedicated historical account focuses on the middle finger. It says Anton Francesco Gori detached that finger on March 12, 1737, when Galileo’s remains were moved from their original grave to the monumental tomb initiated by Vincenzo Viviani. The finger later belonged to Angelo Maria Bandini and was exhibited at the Biblioteca Laurenziana before subsequent transfers into the museum collection. The museum does not establish the same detailed chain of custody for the thumb and index finger in that account.
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That distinction matters: it is accurate to say the museum catalogue lists three right-hand digit relics, but the dated removal and custody narrative cited here concerns the middle finger specifically. The account is on the museum’s middle finger relic page.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the objects reach Museo Galileo?
The telescopes belonged to Medici scientific collections. Museo Galileo’s collection history says those collections were transferred to the Museum of Physics and Natural History in 1775. The Tribune of Galileo was built in 1841, and the ancient scientific collections passed to the University of Florence in 1925. The instrument collection was entrusted to the museum’s predecessor in 1927. These milestones explain the institutional path of the instruments; they are not, by themselves, a complete custody history for each individual relic.
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The museum outlines these transfers on its collections history page.
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