Painting - <I>Pendulum Momentum (Galileo)</I>
date: label: date made
content: 1966
name: label: referenced
content: Galilei, Galileo
label: painter
content: Johnson, Crockett
notes: label: Description
content: The Greek mathematician Aristotle, who lived from about 384 BC through 322 BC, believed that heavy bodies moved naturally downward, while lighter substances such as air naturally ascended. Other forms of terrestrial motion required a sustaining force, which was not expressed mathematically. The Italian Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) challenged Aristotle. He held that motion was persistent and would continue until acted upon by an opposing, outside force.
label: Description
content: In a book entitled <i>Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems</i>, Galileo presented his ideas in a dispute between three men: Salviati, Sagredo, and Simplicio. Salviati, a spokesman for Galileo, explained his revolutionary ideas, one of which is illustrated by a diagram that was the basis for this painting. This image can be found in Crockett Johnson's copy of <i>The World of Mathematics</i>, a book by James R. Newman. It is probable that this image served as inspiration for this painting, although Johnson did not annotate this diagram.
label: Description
content: In Galileo's <i>Dialogues</i>, Salviati argued that if a lead weight is suspended by a thread from point A (see figure) and is released from point C, it will swing to point D, which is located at the same height as the initial point C. Furthermore, Salviati stated that if a nail is placed at point E so that the thread will snag on it, then the weight will swing from point C to point B and then up to point G, which is also located at the same height as the initial point C. The same occurs if a nail is placed at point F below the line segment CD.
label: Description
content: The painting is executed in purple that progresses from light tints to darker shades right to left. This gives the figure a sense of motion akin to that of a pendulum. The background is washed in gray and black. The line created by the initial and final height of the weight divides the background.
label: Description
content: <i>Pendulum Momentum</i>, a work in oil on masonite, is painting #13 in the Crockett Johnson series. It was executed in 1966 and is signed: CJ66. There is a wooden frame painted black.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Crockett Johnson
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ruth Krauss in memory of Crockett Johnson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1093.08
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1093.08
label: accession number
content: 1979.1093
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (frame material)
label: Physical Description
content: masonite (substrate material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (frame material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 92.5 cm x 125 cm x 3.8 cm; 36 7/16 in x 49 3/16 in x 1 1/2 in