1. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Lincei emblem, Rome, Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana

2. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI The foundation The foundation of the Academy of the Academy T he 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 H ISTORY

3. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI O vercoming the harsh opposition of Federi- co‘s 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 The Academy advances H ISTORY

4. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI I n 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». Aims and mission T he 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. A CTIVITIES T he 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).

5. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Palazzo Corsini S EAT T he 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, façade on Via della Lungara Palazzo Corsini, back garden

6. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI S EAT Palazzo Corsini The Library T he 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 dell’Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, Reading Room

7. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Palazzo Corsini S EAT Palazzo Corsini, Sala dei Divani Palazzo Corsini, Sala dell’Alcova

8. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Villa Farnesina S EAT O n 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 d’Italia. When this was suppressed in 1944, the villa became the property of the reinstated Accademia dei Lincei. Villa Farnesina, North façade

9. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Villa Farnesina S EAT O n 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

10. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Villa Farnesina S EAT On the right side of the Villa is the Hall of Galatea, decorated with fine paintings of mythological themes, among which Raphael’s famous fresco representing the triumph of the nymph Galatea. Hall of Galatea, Villa Farnesina Raphael, The Triumph of Galatea, Villa Farnesina

11. §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».

12. . §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

14. § «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». (...)

15. . §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

16. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Sapientiae Cupidi, Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana The Albo Linceo T his 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 Cesi’s 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. H ISTORY

17. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Lynceographum quo norma studiosae vitae […], 1605, Rome, Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana The Lynceographum T his 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 FrancescoStelluti,Fabriano, Town Hall H ISTORY

18. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI 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, Il Saggiatore […], In Roma, appresso Giacomo Mascardi, 1623, Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale G. Galilei, Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari […], In Roma, appresso Giacomo Mascardi, 1613, Rome, Biblioteca dell’Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana H ISTORY

19. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI S ince 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. The Classes Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle Scienze Fisiche Palazzo Corsini, Sala delle Scienze Morali S TRUCTURE

20. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Palazzo Corsini S EAT 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

21. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI S EAT Villa Farnesina O n the first floor is the Salone delle Prospettive, designed by Peruzzi in trompe l’oeil which gives the viewer the illusion of looking outside through the painted columns. Baldassarre Peruzzi, The Hall of the Perspectives, Villa Farnesina

22. A CCADEMIA N AZIONALE DEI L INCEI Villa Farnesina S EAT T he 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