ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI

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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
Lincei emblem, Rome, Biblioteca dell'Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
HISTORY
The foundation of the Academy
The Accademia dei Lincei was founded in Rome on
17 August 1603 by Prince Federico Cesi and three
other young scholars Johannes van Heeck,
Francesco Stelluti and Count Anastasio De Filiis.
The arms and the name Lyncei arose from their
love of science and the desire to see into the
secrets of nature with a perception as acute as
that of the lynx.
Pietro Fachetti , Portrait of Federico
Cesi, Rome, Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle Scienze
Fisiche
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
HISTORY
The Academy advances
Overcoming the harsh opposition of Federi-cos
father, the Duke of Acquasparta, such as the
attacks by the Church, the Academy survived,
increased its activities and gained new members
in Italy and abroad. Giambattista Della Porta
(1538-1615), philosopher, scientist and
playwriter, represented the passage from the
alchemical-esoteric culture of the XVI and XVII
centuries to the ideas of the Lincei, based upon
experimental research and close observation of
Nature. Galileo Galilei, who became a member in
1611, published Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno
alle macchie solari (1613) and Il Saggiatore
(1623) with the support of the Academy. He was
the promoter of the new science.
Portrait of Galileo, copy from the original by J.
Suttermans, Rome, Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle
Scienze Fisiche
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
ACTIVITIES
In accordance with its Statutes, the aim of the
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei is to promote,
co-ordinate, integrate and spread scientific
knowledge in its highest expressions, in the
unity and universality of culture.
The Academy organises national and international
congresses, conferences, meetings and seminars.
It promotes and carries out research activities
and scientific missions, awards prizes and study
grants, publishes Notes and Memoirs of its
meetings and conference proceedings.
Aims and mission
The Lincei Academy maintains several exchange
agreements with other foreign national academies.
It represents Italy in the International Human
Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly
Societies in the InterAcademy Panel on
International Issues (IAP) in the InterAcademy
Medical Panel (IAMP) in the All European
Academies network (ALLEA) in the European
Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC).
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
SEAT
Palazzo Corsini
The seat of the Academy is Palazzo Corsini in Via
della Lungara, at the foot of the Gianicolo hill,
in the heart of old Trastevere.
Palazzo Corsini, back garden
Palazzo Corsini, façade on Via della Lungara
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Palazzo Corsini
The Library
The Library of the Academy is composed of three
main sections the Sezione Corsiniana, donated by
Prince Tommaso Corsini in 1883 the Sezione
Accademica, formed in 1848 through donations by
various fellows the Sezione Orientale,
constituted in 1924 by Prince Leone Caetani and
specializing in Arabian-Islamic culture.
Palazzo Corsini, Biblioteca dellAccademia
Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, Reading Room
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Palazzo Corsini
Palazzo Corsini, Sala dei Divani
Palazzo Corsini, Sala dellAlcova
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Villa Farnesina
On Via della Lungara, opposite Palazzo Corsini,
the Villa Farnesina, completed by the renowned
architect Baldassarre Peruzzi in 1509, is set in
the midst of a beautiful garden. Acquired by the
rich Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, the villa was
then purchased by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese
(from whom it takes its name) in 1577 and, after
various owners throughout the centuries, it was
bought by the Italian State in 1928 as
headquarters of the Accademia dItalia. When this
was suppressed in 1944, the villa became the
property of the reinstated Accademia dei Lincei.
Villa Farnesina, North façade
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Villa Farnesina
On the ground floor of the Villa an entrance hall
leads to the Loggia of Psyche, frescoed by
Raphael and his pupils Giulio Romano, Francesco
Penni, Raffaellino del Colle and Giovanni da
Udine with episodes of the story of Eros and
Psyche as narrated by Apuleius in the
Metamorphosis. On the left of the Loggia of
Psyche is the Frieze Room, around which is a
fresco of mythological scenes by Baldassarre
Peruzzi.
Loggia of Psyche, Villa Farnesina
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Villa Farnesina
On the right side of the Villa is the Hall of
Galatea, decorated with fine paintings of
mythological themes, among which Raphaels famous
fresco representing the triumph of the nymph
Galatea.
Raphael, The Triumph of Galatea, Villa Farnesina
Hall of Galatea, Villa Farnesina
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• Finis eius est rerum cognitionem et sapientiam
  non solum acquirere, recte pieque simul vivendo,
  sed et hominibus voce et scriptis, absque ullius
  noxa, pacifice pandere.

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• The aim of the Academy is not only to acquire
  knowledge and wisdom, but also that its members
  live honestly and piously and the acquired
  knowledge and wisdom be spread peacefully to
  mankind by voice and in writing, without causing
  damage to anyone

The
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• Lynceorum philosophorum Ordo, seu consessus,
  vel Academia, studiosorum classis est, seu
  Collegium, quod, normis quibusdam aptis,
  commodisque sibi prepositis, mutuis amiceque
  junctis consiliis, scientiis minus excultis serio
  et diligenter dat operam. Finis eius est rerum
  cognitionem et sapientiam non solum acquirere,
  recte pieque simul vivendo, sed et hominibus voce
  et scriptis, absque ullius noxa, pacifice
  pandere. (...)

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• The aim of the Academy is not only to acquire
  knowledge and wisdom, but also to spread them
  peacefully to mankind by voice and in writing,
  without causing damage to anyone, and in addition
  that its members live honestly and piously

The
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
HISTORY
The Albo Linceo
This is the first document of the new society, in
which the fellows of the Academy were
registered. It contains the Lincei coat of arms
(the lynx with the laurel branches and Federico
Cesis family coronet) an image of Saint John
the Evangelist, chosen as protector of the
Lincei, with the motto Sapientiae Cupidi and the
Proponimento Linceo, the first expression of
their commitment to serve the human Knowledge,
together with the fellows signatures.
Sapientiae Cupidi, Vatican City, Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
HISTORY
The Lynceographum
This was the fundamental document of the Academy,
in which Federico Cesi and the first Lincei
solemnly set out their purpose and ideals of life
and study and the aim of the new institution
Finis eius est rerum cognitionem et sapientiam
non solum acquirere (...) sed et hominibus voce
et scriptis (...) pacifice pandere.
Portrait of Francesco Stelluti, Fabriano, Town
Hall
Lynceographum quo norma studiosae vitae ,
1605, Rome, Biblioteca dell'Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
HISTORY
The first scientific works
J. van Heeck, Fructus itineris ad
Septentrionales, Montpellier, Bibliothèque de
l'Ecole de Médecine, 1603-05, Drawings of
butterflies
G. Galilei, Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno
alle macchie solari , In Roma, appresso
Giacomo Mascardi, 1613, Rome, Biblioteca
dellAccademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana
G. Galilei, Il Saggiatore , In Roma, appresso
Giacomo Mascardi, 1623, Florence, Biblioteca
Nazionale Centrale
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
STRUCTURE
The Classes
Since 1875 the Lincei include both Sciences and
Humanities. The Academy is divided into two
Classes Physical, Mathematical and Natural
Sciences and Moral, Historical and Philological
Sciences and each Class is subdivided into
Categories.
Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle Scienze Morali
Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle Scienze Fisiche
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ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI
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Palazzo Corsini
A series of imposing rooms are situated on the
second floor, among which the conference rooms
of the two Classes of the Academy, the Sala
Impero, the Sala dei Divani, the Alcove, the
Tapestry room, and the Sala Dutuit (which
contains valuable collections of porcelain and
other works of art, mainly from the Orient). The
Offices of the Academy are also on this floor.
Palazzo Corsini, second floor entrance hall
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Villa Farnesina
On the first floor is the Salone delle
Prospettive, designed by Peruzzi in trompe loeil
which gives the viewer the illusion of looking
outside through the painted columns.
Baldassarre Peruzzi, The Hall of the
Perspectives, Villa Farnesina
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Villa Farnesina
The Villa is a wonderful example of Renaissance
art and architecture, decorated by such famous
painters as Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo,
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (called Sodoma), Giulio
Romano and Baldassarre Peruzzi himself.
G. A. Bazzi (Sodoma), The Wedding of
Alexander and Roxane, Villa Farnesina, The
Wedding Room