Galileo Illuminati?

Has anyone else heard of this branch or of the theory behind it that Galileo in fact formed the original Illuminati and Not Weishaupt as previously thought?

In Dan Brown's prequel to the Da Vinci Code, 'Angels and Demons', he writes that the Illuminati were the sworn enemies of the Catholic Church due to the persecution of science and that Galileo was part of the Illuminati. Also that they have existed hidden in the Vatican and thats where they originated from!
I know its a fictious novel but he does raise some very interesting points...

Anyone read it?

``

yes, and yes,
to both of the prior posts

i read sometime back that these 'illuminated' individuals,
being knowledgeable in science & physics, also knew of
and used the Lens to project the images of their subjects onto canvas
which they then 'painted' with that unique 'realism'

my view is these individuals, who read & wrote, possibly in several languages, and were adept in alchemy, medicine, philosophies, art,
naturalists,....were indeed 'illuminated' in spite of the church and
the Papal-State oppression which was known as the 'Dark-Ages'

This is a common misconception, the two groups have little to nothing in common at all - the goal of the Illuminati is the abolition of church and state and the creation of a "living god" in the form of an infinitely expanding union to create order from chaos.

Abbey Augustine Burrell's memoirs are quite intriguing as to the origins of the cult and I do urge anyone who has a genuine interest in this subject to acquire them.
That "The Society of Perfectiblists" was formed by Adam Weishaupt on May 1st 1776 is (apparently) confirmed by the documents seized by the Weimer Police, does anyone know ANYWHERE that transcripts of the case for prosecution or the documents themselves can be found?

Actually no lens would be necessary -- check out camera obscura

DD