This lens is the oldest instrument among those presented here. As a matter of fact, it is a rare piece since, together with the two lenses kept at the Museum of History of Science in Florence, it is all that remains of Torricelli's production of lenses for telescopes. On october 18th, 1641 Evangelista Torricelli (1608, 1647) joined Galileo in his house in Arcetri, in order to follow more closely his teachings. The discussions he had with his Master, during a period of three months (Galileo died on january 8th, 1642), stimulated Torricelli to take an interest in the "quality" of the lenses for telescopes. The lens presented here was found by prof. Gilberto Govi in Naples around 1885 and is engraved: "Vang.sta Torricelli fece in Fiorenza per comando di S.A.S.ma" ("Vang.sta Torricelli made it in Florence by order of Your Highness"). It is a plano-convex lens of 13 cm diameter, slightly larger than those kept in Florence. The lens, which is well-preserved, is kept in a wooden box lined with velvet.
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