"The Galileo Illuminated Manuscript"
Preliminary drawings for a series of paintings loosely associated with the Museo Galileo in Florence

Inspired by the collection of historical machines at the Museo Galileo: The Museum of the History of Science located in Florence, Italy, I developed The Galileo Illuminated Manuscript: Crosscurrents of Chinese and European Scientific Thought. The “pages” of this fictional illuminated catalog will be 15.5” x 12.5” paintings on shaped panels. Inspired by and incorporating elements from Renaissance illuminated manuscripts, six of the paintings depict instruments which are part of the museum’s collection and the other six depict instruments inspired by the machines in the collection, but that are of his own invention.

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By inventing my own machines to add to the collection through this fictional catalog, I take a fresh approach to the relationship between art and science that combines his interests in the Eurocentric history of science and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts. My intention is that the viewer will be unable to determine which objects are from the real collection and which ones are invented. In so doing, I blur the lines between purpose driven objects and art objects. In my invented machines, I highlight the Asian influences in the collection to underline the influence of Asian scientific knowledge and craft on the development of European Science.