Galileo's middle finger

The middle finger from the right hand of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) is a secular relic in the collection of the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy. The finger was removed from his body after his death, and is encased in a gilded glass egg.

In 1737, 95 years after he died, Galileo's remains were transferred to a mausoleum at the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. Antiquarian Anton Francesco Gori, anatomist Antonio Cocchi, and Italian marquis Vincenzio Capponi removed the finger of Galileo's right hand as well as one of his vertebrae, an index finger, a thumb, and a tooth. The middle finger passed to Angelo Maria Bandini, who exhibited it at the Laurentian Library. In 1841, the finger was moved to the Tribune of Galileo at La Specola. It was then transferred to the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in 1927.