Vincenzo Galilei was born in the late 1520s near Florence, and died in that city in 1591. He was the father of the great astronomer Galileo Galilei, who defied the Catholic Church’s preposterous belief that the sun orbited the earth, and was persecuted for his insights. Vincenzo had another son, Michelangelo, who was a musician like his father.

Vincenzo was a singer and lutenist, and an important musical theorist. He was part of a group of musicians in Florence who were interested in reviving, or at least emulating, the music of the ancient Romans.