Portal:History of science/Picture/24



Galileo before the Holy Office, a 19th century painting by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury, is a classic expression of the conflict thesis regarding the relationship between religion and science. Galileo is shown valiantly defending himself and his Copernican views before the hostile Inquisition, which will soon declare his science to be heresy. In the 19th century, the Galileo affair, in somewhat distorted form, became a central example of the supposedly continual and inevitable struggle between science and religion.