The malice of his enemies was scarcely allayed by his death. His right
of making a will was disputed, as having died a prisoner to the
Inquisition, as well as his right to burial in consecrated ground. These
were at last conceded, but Urban anxiously interfered to prevent the
design of erecting a monument to him in the church of Santa Croce, in
Florence, for which a large sum had been subscribed. His body was
accordingly buried in an obscure corner of the church, which for upwards
of thirty years after his death was unmarked even by an inscription to
his memory. It was not till a century later that the splendid monument
was erected which now covers his and Viviani's remains. When their
bodies were disinterred in 1737 for the purpose of being removed to
their new resting-place, Capponi, the president of the Florentine
Academy, in a spirit of spurious admiration, mutilated Galileo's body,
by removing the thumb and forefinger of the right-hand, and one of the
vertebræ of the back, which are still preserved in some of the Italian
museums. The monument was put up at the expense of his biographer,
Nelli, to whom Viviani's property descended, charged with the condition
of erecting it. Nor was this the only public testimony which Viviani
gave of his attachment. The medal which he struck in honour of Galileo
has already been mentioned; he also, as soon as it was safe to do so,
covered every side of the house in which he lived with laudatory
inscriptions to the same effect. A bust of Galileo was placed over the
door, and two bas-reliefs on each side representing some of his
principal discoveries. Not less than five other medals were struck in
honour of him during his residence at Padua and Florence, which are all
engraved in Venturi's Memoirs.
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