Tribune of Galileo, Scientific museum in Florence, Italy

The Tribune of Galileo is a monumental hall on the first floor of La Specola Museum in Florence, designed by Giuseppe Martelli and inaugurated in 1841. It runs north-south as two square rooms: an entrance room under a dome of glass and cast iron (now plexiglas), one of Florence's earliest architectural uses of iron and glass, and a central room with a cross vault. An exedra with a half-dome holds Aristodemo Costoli's marble statue of Galileo, flanked by niches with busts of his pupils Benedetto Castelli, Bonaventura Cavalieri, Evangelista Torricelli and Vincenzo Viviani.

Architect Giuseppe Martelli designed this space, which opened in 1841 during the Third Congress of Italian Scientists under Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine. Its creation reflected the 1800s growing interest in honoring the scientific achievements of the Mediterranean region.

The frescoes and lunettes, painted in the 1840s, trace experimental science from Leonardo da Vinci before Ludovico Sforza through Galileo's pendulum observation at Pisa, his telescope presentation to the Venetian Senate, and Volta's battery before Napoleon. Vincenzo Antinori, then director of the museum, called the hall a "scientific sanctuary".

The Tribune is on the first floor of the Museo della Specola and is generally not open to the public; access is only granted on special occasions, such as the 2009 Galileo celebrations. Visitors should check with the museum about guided visits rather than expect to enter during regular museum hours.

A statue of the great scientist stands in the center of the room, surrounded by busts of his students and followers. The entrance hall displays wax models from the 1700s, creating an interesting contrast with the optical and mechanical instruments on view.