Linceans

The Accademia dei Lincei (The Lincean Academy) was one of the earliest scientific academies. It was founded in 1603 by Prince Federico Cesi (1585, Rome - 1630, Terni) and friends Anastasio Di Filiis, Johannes Van Heeck, and Francesco Stelluti. The name refers to the lynx, an animal whose sharp eyesight was meant to symbolise the academy's scientific perspicacity.

Galileo Galilei joined the academy on December 25, 1611. The academy published his works and supported him through his disputes with the Catholic Church.

The Linceans produced an important collection of micrographs, or drawings made with the help of the newly invented microscope. After Cesi's death, the academy closed and the drawings were collected by Cassiano dal Pozzo, a Roman antiquarian, who sold them in 1763 to George III of the United Kingdom. The drawings were discovered in Windsor Castle in 1986 by art historian David Freedberg.