On the occasion of the 801st Academic Year of the University of Padua and for the celebration of its 800 years (1222 – 2022), a work of art has been dedicated to Galileo Galilei.
Considered as the father of modern science, from 1592 to 1610 he held the chair of mathematics, geometry and astronomy at the University of Padua and, during that period, he started the study of the Copernican heliocentrism theory that he was later forced to recant publicly by the Inquisition.
This is the inspiration of L’abiura di Galileo Galilei (The Recantation of Galileo Galilei), a work of art by Emilio Isgrò, an Italian artist and writer who has dedicated this work, that includes two sculptures, to the Italian scientist.
For the installation of the first sculpture – a granite globe installed in the cloister of Palazzo Bo – a Jekko minicrane came into play.
This art installation, that includes two sculptures, was installed at Padua’s university seat. The first sculpture, called Eppur si muove (Nevertheless It Moves), was positioned at the centre of the cloister of Palazzo Bo. It’s a big granite globe where black deletions form the shape of the continents. The second sculpture, entitled Chissà se si muove davvero (Who Knows if It Really Moves), is a big book located in the Hall of Forty and whose lines have been censured. The artist meant to recall Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in 1632 and causing Galileo’s condemnation to recant.
The assignment was carried out in a very short time by the staff of NMG Italia, a Verona-based company specializing in electric crane rental and industrial relocation. Their SPX650 managed to cover the city centre of Padova, pass through the narrow entrance to the courtyard with colonnade of Palazzo Bo and manage the delicate phase of laying all the material needed to install the sculptures. First of all, the crane transported all the chests containing the materials, positioned vertically to pass between the columns, and then it arranged the base and positioned the two granite half-spheres that make up the sculpture.
The compact size of the SPX650 model and its 5-ton maximum lifting capacity allowed for a precise and fast intervention.
Credits: University of Padua https://www.unipd.it/news/abiura-galileo-isgro
