Galileo Galilei · Diego Velázquez Were Galileo Galilei and Diego Velázquez alive at the same time? Yes. Galileo Galilei and Diego Velázquez were alive at the same time for 42 or 43 years, from 1599 to 1642. Galileo Galilei was 34 or 35 when Diego Velázquez was born.Diego Velázquez was 42 or 43 when Galileo Galilei died, aged 77. Galileo GalileiItalian polymathBorn 15 February 1564 · died 8 January 1642, aged 77Diego VelázquezSpanish painterBorn 1599 · died 6 August 1660, aged 60 or 61 MichelangeloMiguel de CervantesGalileo GalileiWilliam ShakespeareRené DescartesDiego VelázquezMolièreIsaac Newton Galileo Galilei and Diego Velázquez in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.