The oldest learned academy in Europe that is still in operation, the Accademia was founded in Rome on 17 August 1603 by Italian aristocrats Prince Federico Cesi, Count Anastasio de Filis, and Francesco Stelluti and Dutch doctor Jan Heck to study nature, letters, and philosophy and to “celebrate God’s wondrous creations.” Antiquarian and archaeological studies were a longstanding interest of its founders. The use of lincei, or lynxes, is an allusion to the sharp eyes of the cats (and, by extension, those of the academicians).
Galileo Galilei joined the Accademia in 1611, and it is no coincidence that its first publication in 1613 was by him (on the phenomenon of sunspots). Galileo’s defense of Copernicus’s heliocentric doctrine was fully supported by the Accademia, despite the anger of the Catholic church. However, the group’s influence waned after Cesi’s death.
The Accademia was revived in 1795 with a donation by Napoleon I, suppressed by the pope during the 1830s, revived again in 1838, and suppressed again in 1840. Finally, it was reestablished by the liberal pope Pius IX, who excluded the study of letters and philosophy from its charter. In 1875 the prime minister of the new Italian state founded the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and the Vatican founded its own Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei.
In 1939 it became the Accademia d’ltalia and then returned to its old name Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei after 1944. In this last incarnation the membership of the Accademia comprises many well-known archeologists; it publishes papers on classical archaeology such as Notizie degli Scavi (Excavation News) and organizes lectures and conferences.
See also English Antiquaries and Antiquarian Societies (1586-1770); Publication of Oedipus Aegypticus (1652-1655); Foundation of the French Academy in Rome (1666); Grand Tour and the Society of Dilettanti (1670-1780).
Further Reading
The Web site of the Accademia (Http://www. lincei. it/informazioni/index. php) has a useful general history in English.
World History
