Does anybody know what MATHVS means in the portrait of Galileo? MATH is math in Italian and Latin, but I don't know what to make of the VS (in "MATHVS")? A Latin scholar has answered this question the "VS" is actually a "US" and makes math mean mathematician, The "US" appended to Galileo's name is a latinization of his name. Also, it is odd, given Galileo's prominence that there is no discussion of the origin of the portrait. Furthermore, he was not very prominent when the portrait was allegedly painted, which was before his first publication. He was a professor of math at Padua and an inventor of military gadgets at the time, and not widely known nor Royal Mathematician in the Medici court.Iopis (talk) 12:08, 26 November 2019 (UTC)
ANSWER: "VS" is actually "US" and in the case of MATHUS, transforms math into mathematician and Latinizes Galileo's name. Iopis (talk) 04:36, 8 July 2020 (UTC)