Heavenly instruments: Galileo exhibition

St Augustine in his study, a fresco by Sandro Botticelli, 1480. On the stone beam above the saint's head is an astrolabe, a device used by early astronomers to measure the altitude of celestial bodies and as a navigational aid. The symbolism reflects the 15th century church's uneasy accommodation with scientific thinking Photograph: Ognissanti Church, Florence

15th century tapestry depicting planetary motion Photograph: Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo

Gold and brass solar orb model, 1575 (anonymous) Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Mechanical celestial globe or armillary sphere made by Eberhard Baldewein in 1574 in Kassel, Germany. The sphere represented the apparent motion of the heavens as they wheeled around the Earth Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Engraved rock crystal celestial globe made in Milan or Prague at the end of the 16th century Photograph: Kugel Collection, Paris

16th century polyhedral solar clock, fashioned out of wood by Stefano Buonsignori of Florence Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Gold and copper quadrant made by Tobias Volckmer of Braunschweig, Germany, in 1608. Quadrants – comprising a 90-degree graduated arc and a sighting mechanism attached to a moveable arm – were used by mariners and astronomers to measure the altitude of stars Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence

Galileo's lens: The lens was made by Galileo in 1609 or 1610, the ivory and ebony frame was created much later by Vittorio Crosten in 1677 Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza

Telescope made by Galileo out of wood and leather in 1609 or 1610 Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence

Galileo heard sketchy details about the invention of the telescope in Holland and constructed his own, superior version. He used it to make a series of extraordinary discoveries, including mountains and valleys on the surface of the moon, sunspots, moons orbiting Jupiter and the phases of Venus Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence

Galileo's astronomical discoveries made him famous, but in 1614 he was accused of heresy for his support of the Copernican theory that the sun was the centre of the solar system. He was forced to recant and spent the last years of his life under house arrest Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence

Coloured engraving of a star map by Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr of Nuremberg, 1742 Photograph: Private collection, Vienna

A planetary or orrery made of wood, glass and brass, 1775-76, by Charles Boyle and James Ferguson. Turning the handle recreated the motion of the planets – with the sun in its proper place at the centre of the solar system Photograph: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence