Accademia dei Lincei

Timeline

1. 1603–1610Cesi residence, Rome · RomeThe eighteen-year-old Prince Cesi of Acquasparta and three friends established the society in Rome, with the lynx as its emblem, aiming to study nature together, live piously, and spread knowledge peacefully by word and writing. The academy inherited the experimental tradition of Naples' suppressed Accademia dei Segreti, emphasizing observation unbound by authority.
2. 1611–1623Rome, Papal States · RomeAfter shocking Rome with his telescope discoveries, Galileo joined in 1611 and became the academy's intellectual center. The Lincei funded and published his History and Demonstrations Concerning Sunspots and Their Properties (1613) and The Assayer (1623), openly supporting observational evidence against scholastic philosophy; membership at one point expanded to include foreign correspondents.
3. 1630–1651Rome, Papal States · RomeThe academy's funding and momentum depended almost entirely on Cesi himself. After his death, plans to sponsor publication of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems fell through, the organization quickly shrank, and by the mid-17th century at the latest it existed in name only. The first period of the Lincei thus became a highly personality-driven early scientific community.
4. 1847Palazzo Corsini, Rome · RomeIn 1847 the papacy re-established a new Accademia dei Lincei, which after Italian unification became a national academy housed in Rome's Palazzo Corsini. Today's Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei claims the 1603 tradition, continuing to award achievements in science and the humanities, making the lynx a symbol of Italian national scholarship.