The Trial of Galileo
In this anonymous painting of the trial held in 1633, Galileo appears seated on a chair in the center facing the church officials who accused him of heresy for insisting that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe (heliocentrism). Catholic officials forced him to recant or suffer the death penalty. Undated, the painting probably comes from a later time because contemporary paintings rarely included so many different figures each occupied in their own fashion. (Private Collection / Bridgeman Images.)