On the Shoulders of Giants. Places and Masters of Science in the Middle Ages

The exhibition documents the remarkable—and little-known—epic of intellectual fervor and cultural creativity that unfolded in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
It offers a new reading of a period that laid the foundations for the birth of modern science, challenging the commonly held belief—often accepted uncritically—that science began in the 17th century as a clear break from the past, which supposedly offered no meaningful contributions to human thought.

In contrast, in-depth studies—especially in recent decades—have shown that the decisive conditions for the rise of science must be sought precisely in medieval Europe, and in a particular conception of rationality and of the natural world.
This worldview was shared by the people and consistently developed by medieval thinkers.
Such an interpretation helps explain why science as we know it today, despite brilliant early insights in other great civilizations of the past, found fertile ground only in the Christian West.

As physicist Peter Hodgson has noted, the full set of favorable conditions “came together perfectly only once in human history”—and only within the context of medieval Christianity.

The exhibition explores the conditions and factors that favored the emergence and development of that kind of knowledge of reality we now call scientific knowledge.
It presents the key conceptual pillars of the medieval mindset through evocative settings, reconstructions, models, and artifacts.

It is a re-reading of the past in light of today’s questions—a journey through the places and ideas that shaped the work of the great masters of our culture.
An engaging and thought-provoking journey into the past to better understand today’s scientific experience, rediscover our shared cultural roots, and recover what can still nourish the journey of scientific discovery.

THIS EXHIBITION IS AVAILABLE IN A TRAVELING FORMAT. CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS.