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Almost completely unknown to scholars until now, the Linder Gallery is an astonishingly detailed 17th century Flemish painting highlighting the debates about the cosmos leading up to Galileo’s Inquisition Trial of 1633.   Previously owned by the Rothschild family in Vienna, the painting was seized by the Nazis during World War II and restituted to the family after the end of the war.

A Mysterious Masterpiece: The World of the Linder Gallery, edited by Michael John Gorman, is the first book to explore this remarkable painting.  In an innovative approach to a unique cultural artefact, the book is based on a real conversation around the painting between award-winning author Lawrence Weschler (author of Mr Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Director of the New York Institute for the Humanities, New York University), art historian Alexander Marr (Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews), historian Pamela Smith (Professor of History at Columbia University, New York), designer and architect James Bradburne (Director General, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi), historian of science Michael John Gorman (Director, Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin) and art collector and businessman Ron Cordover.

A Mysterious Masterpiece, published by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi/Alias is available for purchase from Amazon.com