Accademia dei Lincei

Abstract

The Accademia dei Lincei was the first European academy devoted to the natural sciences. It was founded in Rome in 1603 by four young men: Federico Cesi, Johannes Heckius, Francesco Stelluti and Anastasio de Filiis. The Lincei adopted the emblem of the Lynx, an animal remarkable for the quickness of its sight. The Academy met at Cesi family Palazzo, opposed traditional learning and promoted a new way of investigating nature, by means of observation and experiments. The Lynceans pursued research in chemistry, natural history and physics. They were attracted by antiquarian studies too. The Academy established a network of correspondence with naturalists and savants from all Europe. Galilei joined the Academy in 1611 and was supported by Cesi and his colleagues in his endeavour to promote the heliocentric cosmology. Cesi was mainly interested in natural philosophy, gave noticeable contributions to botany and paid special attention to the investigation of fungi. Entomology played a relevant part in the research carried out by the Lincei who published two broadsheets devoted to the bees. They were also meant to revere the Barberini family, whose emblem was a trigon of bees. Academicians sought the Barberini's support, and, after Maffeo Barberini became Urban VIII, Cesi and his colleagues became part of the Barberini system of patronage. Galilei unsuccessfully tried to gain the Pope's support for his effort to have Copernicanism accepted by the Church. The Academy actually closed in 1630 when Federico Cesi died. In 1874 the Accademia dei Lincei was restored as Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. In 1939 the Fascist regime ordered the fusion of the Accademia dei Lincei with the Accademia d'Italia, which was under Benito Mussolini's control. In 1944 the Accademia d'Italia was suppressed and the Accademia dei Lincei was reestablished and was housed in the Renaissance Villa Farnesina in Rome.

Key Concepts

• The Accademia dei Lincei contributed to the reorientation of science from individual work to a collaborative enterprise.
• Scientific illustration and visual communication were two cornerstones of the Lynceans projects.
• The Lynceans adopted Paracelsian medicine and paved the way to the diffusion of chemical medicine in Italy.
• Cesi and Galilei embodied two different views of nature, i.e. vitalism and mechanism.