When we talk about “academy“, The first image that comes to mind is probably that of a temple of knowledge: a sacred place made of books, silence, rigor and teaching. The concept of” academy “has its roots in theAncient Greecewhen a sacred wood At the gates of Athens he became the place where Plato he founded his philosophical school. Since then, the term has crossed the centuries by transforming itself deeply: from a garden of philosophical discussion to cultural institution, from circle of Renaissance erudite to a model of artistic and scientific training. The academies, born like Free spaces for intellectual comparisonhave evolved into different forms, often a mirror of Europe’s political and cultural changes, from humanism to the Risorgimento, until it becomes today custodians of specialized knowledgein the linguistic, scientific and artistic fields.
The Plato Academy
The term “academy” derives from the Greek Akadēmía (Ἀκαδήμεια), and is the name of a sacred wood located just outside The walls of Athensdedicated to the mythological hero Academuswho had given the Athenians a land that became a garden open to the public. Here was a Sanctuary of Athenaaltars dedicated to Zeus, Ermes, Heracles and Muses, and twelve sacred olive trees, deemed descendants of the tree, gave birth to the goddess on the acropolis. In this place, in 387 BC, Plato He began to keep his lessons, then acquiring an adjacent land where he erected a Muse sanctuary and aexedra (place for discussions). His schoolthat from that moment It was called the Academymaintained the same name even when he moved to Athens.
The Institute provided for a very precise organizational structure: it was led by a school elected school, which was usually chosen on the indication of the predecessor. Next to him there were other figures in charge of the religious rites and management: a arconteand in similar schools (such as that of Aristotle) also a Hieropoiós (sacrifier) and a Epimelētḗs tôn mousôn (Curator of the Muses). It is important to specify that teaching was not the exclusive monopoly of the Schoolcate: other qualified members also held lessons and led research, in full autonomy. In perfect line with the encyclopedic and rationalist approach of the school, alongside the philosophical ones, studies were practiced Mathematics and astronomical. The Platonic Academy survived for almost a millennium, crossing different philosophical phases and adapting to the cultural changes of the time. Over the centuries it was populated by thinkers moderately skeptical or eclecticbut with always less philosophical impact. Only at the beginning of the 5th century AD there was a return to the ancient splendor, with the Neoplatonismdeveloped by Plutarch, Syrian and above all Procalunder whose guide, the school became a theological and theosophical center, also inspired by the thought of Plot.
The latest generation of schoolchildren – Ammonium, AsclepioDoto, Damascio, Simplicio – maintained neoplatonic orthodoxy until the set set in the 529 AD from Justinianwho forbade all the pagan religious institutions.
The Renaissance and the rebirth of the academies
During the Renaissance, Italy saw, thanks to the reborn interest in Greek-Roman studiesa flowering of academies inspired by the Platonic model, and it is exactly in this context that The term “Academy” acquires its current definition: one Free Congregation of Eruditigathered to cultivate knowledge, language, arts and sciences in a disinterested way. The first academies they are not educational institutions officers, but Cultural circles.
The former are a Florencewith the Chorus academiae florentinaeand then the famous Platonic Academy Of Marsilio Ficinooriented towards philosophy and hello, founded on behalf of Cosimo de ‘Medici; to Romewith thePomponian Academy; to Napleswith the Pontanian (already Alfonsina); to Venicewith theAldinededicated to archeology and philology.
In the following century, it multiplies and spreads inside and outside Italy, theliterary academy properly called, distinct for his secular and for the support of patronsbecoming a meeting centers for scholars with common interests, strong of flourish of Italian literature and the cult of the language and style. Their mission was fill the educational gaps of medieval universitiesoffering a wider and more diversified humanistic education. However, in a politically fragmented Italy and subject to absolutist powers and to Counter -reformmany academies degenerate: bizarre and self -deprecating names are multiplying (the wet, the roughs, the apatians, the humorists); they stiffen in empty ceremoniallosing intellectual incisiveness and becoming similar to literary clubs or amateur circles. In this chaos, however, they are born Linguistic and scientific academies who will school.
Scientific and artistic academies
In the seventeenth century, Italy was the scene of the birth of the first scientific academies. In 1583, in Florence, theAccademia della Cruscawith the aim of preserving the purity of the Italian language. This institution is famous for the publication of “Vocabulary of the academics of the Crusca“, The first dictionary of the Italian language, which played a fundamental role in the standardization and spread of Italian.
In 1603, in Rome, theAccademia dei Linceiconsidered the first scientific academy of Europe. This institution promoted scientific research and established relationships with scholars from all over Europe.
Parallel, artistic academies were born such as theAcademy of the arts of drawing of Florence, founded in 1563 by Giorgio Vasari on behalf of Cosimo I de ‘Medici. Academies of this type aimed to raise the status of the artists, offering them a theoretical and practical formation and promoting the intellectual dignity of artistic activity.
Founded to Rome In 1690, theAcademy of Arcadia it opposes the Baroque excess, promoting a literature inspired by the natural, to the simple. It spreads throughout Italy and abroad with over one hundred “colonies”, helping to build a unitary aesthetic consciousnessvaguely anticipating the national identity.
During the Risorgimentoacademies take on a role marginal Compared to universities, political movements and national scientific congresses. Even in the process of unification of the peninsula, their influence was scarce, it was only after the unification of Italy (1861) that many academies returned to a regular life, albeit with local flow, And only a few hired national and international breathlike The Royal Academy of Lincei, the Lombard Institute, the Veneto Institute, the Academy of Sciences of Turin, the Bologna Academy.
