as his excellence as a narrative painter in a style parallel to
that of such contemporaries as Bernardo DADDI. By 1347
he was sufficiently admired to head a list of candidates to
paint the altarpiece for San Giovanni Fuorcivitas in Pistoia
(completed 1353). He also painted a series of scenes from
the lives of Christ and St. Francis on the panels of a sac-
risty cupboard door, based on similar works by Giotto.
Gaetano See CAJETAN, THOMAS DE VIO
Gaffurio, Franchino (1451–1522) Italian composer and
music theorist
A native of Lodi, he became a priest and singer at the
cathedral there in the early 1470s. From 1474 he lived in
various Italian cities, and in Naples he met the theorist
TINCTORIS, who apparently became his closest friend. It
was in Naples that he wrote his Theoricum opus
(1479–80), his first original theoretical writing. After
short periods in Lodi and Bergamo he became maestro at
Milan cathedral in 1484, remaining there until his death.
Though he left a large number of Masses and motets,
Gaffurio is best known for his theoretical writings, which
mainly date from his time in Milan. The Practica musicae
(1496) is of major importance; it deals with the interpre-
tation of chant, poetic meters and mensuration, counter-
point, and musical proportions. Most of Gaffurio’s music
was composed for the Ambrosian liturgy celebrated in
Milan cathedral. Like his contemporary WEERBEKE, he
composed for the Ordinary of the Mass.
Gagliano, Marco da (c. 1575–1642) Italian composer
Gagliano was a priest at San Lorenzo, Florence, where he
was also made musical director in 1608 in succession to
his teacher, Luca Bati. In the same year he was appointed
court organist to Duke Cosimo II. He is primarily known
as an early composer of operas and his first, Dafne, was
staged at the Gonzaga court at Mantua in 1608. In Dafne
he supplements the monodic recitative of the Florentine
Camerata, whose members produced the earliest opera of
the same name (now lost), with arias and polyphonic cho-
ruses. He wrote a number of other operas which do not
survive complete, including collaborations with Jacopo
PERI, Lo sposalizio di Medoro e Angelica (1619) and La
Flora (1628). Gagliano was also a composer of five-part
madrigals, secular duets and trios, and sacred music, in-
cluding 38 motets. His song Valli profonde is one of the
finest monodic compositions of the early baroque period.
Galateo, Il See DELLA CASA, GIOVANNI
Galenism, Renaissance The works of the Roman physi-
cian Galen (129–c. 199 CE) were considered authoritative
throughout the Middle Ages and became widely available
in print during the early 16th century. A Latin Opera was
published in 1490, while the Greek editio princeps ap-
peared in 1525. In addition, such important works as On
the Use of Parts, On Natural Faculties, and On Anatomical
Procedures were all available in separate Latin editions.
Their main appeal to Renaissance scholars lay in the com-
prehensive systems of anatomy, physiology, and medicine
developed in Galen’s numerous works. By the mid-16th
century, however, VESALIUSand FALLOPPIObegan to chal-
lenge details of his anatomy, arguing there were aspects of
human anatomy ignored by Galen and other features mis-
described. They therefore sought to create a more accurate
and detailed system of human anatomy that depended on
observation and DISSECTION.
Galenic physiology, however, proved to be more
durable. The body operated, Galen argued, through three
interacting systems. Natural spirits were transmitted
through the venous system; vital spirits through the arte-
rial system; and animal spirits through the nervous sys-
tem, with areas of interaction in the liver, heart, and brain.
Galen rejected the idea of the circulation of the blood and
proposed instead that it ebbed and flowed, somewhat like
the tides. Carried with it were the vital and natural spirits
which, together with the animal spirits, were responsible
for such distinctive vital phenomena as growth, motion,
heat, and sensation. The system remained unchallenged
during the Renaissance and only gradually collapsed after
the publication in 1628 of HARVEY’s De motu cordis.
Even more successful was the system of medicine
constructed by Galen. Derived from Hippocratic princi-
ples, it saw man as ultimately composed of the four el-
ements: earth, air, fire, and water. These in turn,
depending on how they combined, produced the four hu-
mors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile (choler), and black bile
(melancholy). If the humors were mixed harmoniously,
health followed; any imbalance produced disease. The
most obvious causes of such an imbalance were diet and
climate. Consequently, treatment consisted largely of re-
dressing the defects; for example, the effects of an exces-
sively “hot and dry” diet were neutralized by switching to
“wet and cold” foods and herbs. Though, in essence, the
system long outlasted the Renaissance, it nevertheless
faced sustained opposition from PARACELSUSand the pro-
ponents of IATROCHEMISTRY. (See illustration overleaf.)Galilei, Vincenzo (c. 1525–1591) Italian music theorist
and composer
He studied the lute in his youth, and later MUSIC THEORY
with Gioseffo ZARLINOin Venice. He had settled in Pisa by
the early 1560s and married (1562) a member of the local
nobility by whom he became the father of GALILEO
GALILEI. In 1572 he returned to Florence where his princi-
pal patron was the Florentine noble Giovanni BARDI.
Galilei was at the forefront of attempts to revive the an-
cient Greek notion of the union of music and poetry
through monody. His surviving compositions include
madrigals, songs, and lute music, but he is best known forGGaalliilleeii,, VViinncceennzzoo 1 19999