Scene 4
p. 33
Grand Duke of Tuscany -
Cosimo de’ Medici (1519–74), great-great-grandson of Lorenzo, became duke of Florence, then grand duke of Tuscany (1569), and reigned as Cosimo I. He established a new dynasty that perpetuated the family’s traditional regard for the arts and sciences. The descendants of Cosimo I, who ruled over Florence and Tuscany as grand dukes into the 1700s, included:
Cosimo II (1590–1621), older son of Ferdinand I, reigned during a period when Europe was relatively at peace and when Tuscany’s abundant harvests helped to feed Europe and make Tuscany rich. From then on, however, a general decay set in. Ferdinand II (1610–70), oldest son of Cosimo II, was followed by his only living son and heir, Cosimo III (1642–1723), who in turn was followed by an only son, Gian Gastone (1671–1737), who died without issue. The European powers in 1738 transferred the grand duchy to the dukes of Lorraine, related to the Austrian imperial house.
The older Medicean line had generally honoured the republican ambitions of the people of Florence. The younger line established an authoritarian rule that had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, constitutional forms and movements toward democratic government disappeared. On the other hand, Florence acquired a degree of stability that it had never known under the descendants of Cosimo the Elder. Despite the new stability, the city dwindled as a centre of art, science, and scholarship. The descendants of Cosimo I married into most of the royal houses of Europe; to a greater or lesser extent they preserved the family name and the family fortune; but, ruling mainly by military force, they seem in the context of history to have reduced the city’s role and importance as a centre of creative artistic effort and cultural renaissance. The grand ducal line disappeared with the death of Cosimo III’s daughter Anna Maria Luisa (1667–1743), widow of the elector palatine John William of Neuburg; she bequeathed all the art treasures of the Medici to the grand duchy and to Florence. Engraved on her tomb in the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes) are the words Ultima della stirpe reale dei Medici (“Last of the royal Medici line”).
p. 38
"wheels on the Plough" -
Ursa Major, ( Latin: “Greater Bear”) also called the Great Bear, in astronomy, a constellation of the northern sky, at about 10 hours 40 minutes right ascension and 56° north declination. Ptolemy cataloged eight of the constellation’s stars. Of these, the seven brightest constitute one of the most characteristic figures in the northern sky; the group has received various names—Septentriones, the Wagon, Plow, Big Dipper, and Charles’s Wain. For the Hindus these seven stars represented the seven Rishis (or Sages). Two of the constellation’s stars, Dubhe and Merak, are called the pointers because the line Merak-Dubhe points to the Pole Star.
"all kinds of things on the Bull" -
Taurus, ( Latin: “Bull”) in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying in the northern sky between Aries and Gemini, at about 4 hours 20 minutes right ascension and 16° north declination.
p. 39
basta -
Italian for "enough" or "stop"
p. 40
"My work in the Great Arsenal in Venice brought me into daily contact with draughtsmen, builders, and instument mechanics..." -
Galileo was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Padua in 1592. The city of Padua had come under Venetian rule some time earlier, and the authorities in Venice regulated the university. Galileo quickly made friends among the Venetian patriciate and became a frequent visitor to the famous Arsenal, the inner harbor where Venetian ships were fitted out. Hulls of galleys entered on one end and within a few hours left at the other end, fully equipped and manned. The Arsenal had been a place of practical invention and innovation for centuries. Galileo had always been interested in mechanical things, and at the Arsenal he learned a great deal more about what we call technology, especially shipbuilding.
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica
Grand Duke of Tuscany -
Cosimo de’ Medici (1519–74), great-great-grandson of Lorenzo, became duke of Florence, then grand duke of Tuscany (1569), and reigned as Cosimo I. He established a new dynasty that perpetuated the family’s traditional regard for the arts and sciences. The descendants of Cosimo I, who ruled over Florence and Tuscany as grand dukes into the 1700s, included:
Cosimo II (1590–1621), older son of Ferdinand I, reigned during a period when Europe was relatively at peace and when Tuscany’s abundant harvests helped to feed Europe and make Tuscany rich. From then on, however, a general decay set in. Ferdinand II (1610–70), oldest son of Cosimo II, was followed by his only living son and heir, Cosimo III (1642–1723), who in turn was followed by an only son, Gian Gastone (1671–1737), who died without issue. The European powers in 1738 transferred the grand duchy to the dukes of Lorraine, related to the Austrian imperial house.
The older Medicean line had generally honoured the republican ambitions of the people of Florence. The younger line established an authoritarian rule that had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, constitutional forms and movements toward democratic government disappeared. On the other hand, Florence acquired a degree of stability that it had never known under the descendants of Cosimo the Elder. Despite the new stability, the city dwindled as a centre of art, science, and scholarship. The descendants of Cosimo I married into most of the royal houses of Europe; to a greater or lesser extent they preserved the family name and the family fortune; but, ruling mainly by military force, they seem in the context of history to have reduced the city’s role and importance as a centre of creative artistic effort and cultural renaissance. The grand ducal line disappeared with the death of Cosimo III’s daughter Anna Maria Luisa (1667–1743), widow of the elector palatine John William of Neuburg; she bequeathed all the art treasures of the Medici to the grand duchy and to Florence. Engraved on her tomb in the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes) are the words Ultima della stirpe reale dei Medici (“Last of the royal Medici line”).
p. 38
"wheels on the Plough" -
Ursa Major, ( Latin: “Greater Bear”) also called the Great Bear, in astronomy, a constellation of the northern sky, at about 10 hours 40 minutes right ascension and 56° north declination. Ptolemy cataloged eight of the constellation’s stars. Of these, the seven brightest constitute one of the most characteristic figures in the northern sky; the group has received various names—Septentriones, the Wagon, Plow, Big Dipper, and Charles’s Wain. For the Hindus these seven stars represented the seven Rishis (or Sages). Two of the constellation’s stars, Dubhe and Merak, are called the pointers because the line Merak-Dubhe points to the Pole Star.
"all kinds of things on the Bull" -
Taurus, ( Latin: “Bull”) in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying in the northern sky between Aries and Gemini, at about 4 hours 20 minutes right ascension and 16° north declination.
p. 39
basta -
Italian for "enough" or "stop"
p. 40
"My work in the Great Arsenal in Venice brought me into daily contact with draughtsmen, builders, and instument mechanics..." -
Galileo was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Padua in 1592. The city of Padua had come under Venetian rule some time earlier, and the authorities in Venice regulated the university. Galileo quickly made friends among the Venetian patriciate and became a frequent visitor to the famous Arsenal, the inner harbor where Venetian ships were fitted out. Hulls of galleys entered on one end and within a few hours left at the other end, fully equipped and manned. The Arsenal had been a place of practical invention and innovation for centuries. Galileo had always been interested in mechanical things, and at the Arsenal he learned a great deal more about what we call technology, especially shipbuilding.
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica