Ariosto, Elsheimer, Galilei e la Luna

When, for the first time, Galilei \u201csees\u201d the moon, in the winter of 1609- 1610, his gaze is radically different from the one adopted by the other astronomers, which are examining the lunar phases with their telescope. Galilei is not just a scientist, he is also an artist, and a great reader of Ariosto. The moon, as \u201cseen\u201d by him, is, for the very first time in the history of mankind, represented as it really \u201cis\u201d: similar to Earth, not eternal nor perfect, but corruptible and fragile. Such is the way the moon is represented in the magnificent watercolours in which the scientist pours the shapes of the craters and the shadows he recognises on the moon. How extraordinary, then, it is to discover that a few months earlier, a painter, the German Adam Elsheimer, was the first to depict a moon with spots.Quando Galilei per la prima volta \u201cvede\u201d la luna, nell\u2019inverno 1609-1610, il suo sguardo \ue8 radicalmente diverso da quello degli altri astronomi che scrutano con il telescopio le fasi lunari. Galilei non \ue8 solo uno scienziato, ma un artista, e un grande lettore dell\u2019Ariosto. La luna da lui \u201cvista\u201d \ue8 rappresentata per la prima volta nella storia dell\u2019uomo come essa \u201c\ue8\u201d davvero: simile alla terra, non eterna e perfetta, ma corruttibile e fragile. Cos\uec la riproducono i magnifici acquerelli nei quali lo scienziato riversa le forme dei crateri e le ombre che riconosce sulla luna. Tanto pi\uf9 straordinario \ue8 scoprire che pochi mesi prima un pittore, il tedesco Adam Elsheimer, per primo ha raffigurato una luna con le macchie