New observations on Francesco Fontana, Fabio Colonna, and Jusepe de Ribera’s man with a telescope

This paper examines the identity of the sitter in Jusepe de Ribera’s painting The Sense of Sight (c.1610s). Previous studies have suggested that the figure might be the Neapolitan optician Francesco Fontana (c.1580/1590–1656) and that the telescope he holds was painted based on a model created by Fontana himself. However, this research challenges that interpretation and instead proposes that the sitter is the polymath Fabio Colonna (1567–1640), who acquired his knowledge of telescope-making through guidance from Galilei. Additionally, the paper presents the first detailed analysis of the telescope depicted in Ribera’s work, demonstrating that – contrary to established scholarship – it does not correspond to any known telescopes attributed to Galilei.