FEDERICO CESI, THE FIRST ACADEMY, AND UMBRIA 13Giuseppe Gabrieli captures very effectively the moral and religious but alsocultural tension, which guided the first steps <strong>of</strong> this collective experienceand which derived, above all, from the enthusiasm <strong>of</strong> the founder:Federico Cesi [...] had a most singular idea <strong>of</strong> and affection for his<strong>Academy</strong>. He had dreamed about it and conceived <strong>of</strong> it when hewas just a young boy, as an organism <strong>of</strong> totally new scientific collaborationverging on cooperation, a sort <strong>of</strong> ‘religion’ in the multipleand specific sense that was given this word back then; a quasireligious order part cenobitic and part chivalric, aiming and livingfor the acquisition <strong>of</strong> scientific knowledge, with a singleness <strong>of</strong>purpose and a nearly monastic rule somewhere between theOratorian, the Philippine and the familial. To him the Academicswere and were to consider and call themselves ‘brothers’; and hewas the first to give the example, hol<strong>di</strong>ng them dear, exten<strong>di</strong>ng tothem every kindness and affection, doing his best to satisfy alltheir desires and needs, every necessity, even private, economicaid, health care, social arrangements, and collegiality. 7Even when, in the early months <strong>of</strong> 1604, pressure from Federico’sfather and intervention by the Holy Office provoke the <strong>di</strong>spersion <strong>of</strong> theyoung Lynceans the ideals <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Academy</strong> are kept alive. These youngmen, especially in response to the continuous and passionate spurring <strong>of</strong>Cesi, – who devotes himself to the drafting <strong>of</strong> ‘laws, constitutions, and bylaws’for the <strong>Academy</strong> – will never fail in their tenacious attachment tothat primitive project, to that ideal <strong>of</strong> ‘lynceality’ which in<strong>di</strong>cated a commonway <strong>of</strong> feeling and understan<strong>di</strong>ng, an analogous conception <strong>of</strong> scientificresearch. Splen<strong>di</strong>d testimony <strong>of</strong> this is contained in a letter fromCesi in Rome to Stelluti in Fabriano in July <strong>of</strong> 1604, in which he encouragesall <strong>of</strong> their companions, assuring them that the storm would soonpass, and exalts the principles and obligations <strong>of</strong> ‘lynceality’, which is tosay the obligations <strong>of</strong> moral probity, <strong>of</strong> communal research, equally <strong>di</strong>stributedamong speculation, made vigorous with the instrument <strong>of</strong> mathematics,and observation <strong>of</strong> nature. 8There is no doubt that, from 1611 on, Cesi’s ideals, eminentlyexpressed in the letter to Stelluti, are given a decisive imprint by Galileo’sparticipation in the Lyncean community. Their relationship is certainly7 G. Gabrieli, Ancora <strong>di</strong> Josse Ryke (Giusto Ricchio) panegirista e encomiatore ufficialedei Lincei defunti nella prima Accademia, in Contributi, vol. II, p. 1166.8 Cf. Federico Cesi to Francesco Stelluti, Rome 17 July 1604, in Carteggio, pp. 36-41.
14FEDERICO CESI, LA PRIMA ACCADEMIA, L’UMBRIAproco con<strong>di</strong>zionamento che porta allo stabilirsi <strong>di</strong> un’imme<strong>di</strong>ata comunanza<strong>di</strong> interessi filos<strong>of</strong>ici e scientifici: Galileo infatti apprezza e con<strong>di</strong>videil metodo <strong>di</strong> lavoro e <strong>di</strong> ricerca degli Accademici; egli trae conforto dall’abilitàorganizzativa e dall’efficace politica culturale <strong>di</strong> Cesi mentre la suapartecipazione <strong>of</strong>fre nuovo impulso alle loro concrete ricerche. 9 Con il contributo<strong>di</strong> Galileo, attraverso il suo prestigio e la sua autorità, l’Accademiaha la possibilità <strong>di</strong> rilanciarsi, anzi <strong>di</strong> realizzare una crescita notevole, <strong>di</strong>acquisire una precisa connotazione specialmente per quanto concerne ilsuo programma scientifico:“Ai primitivi progetti e alle ancora confuse aspirazioni dei LinceiGalileo <strong>of</strong>fre obiettivi chiari e precisi, concretezza <strong>di</strong> programmi, unmetodo <strong>di</strong> lavoro assolutamente limpido”. 10In effetti, tutta la battaglia galileiana per l’affermazione del sistemacopernicano viene combattuta in un clima <strong>di</strong> collaborazione con i Linceii quali sono fermamente convinti, dopo la pubblicazione del Sidereusnuncius, che il vedere “le cose nuove del cielo” sia “<strong>of</strong>ficio veramente daLincei”. E l’Accademia con<strong>di</strong>vide il dramma che accompagna Galileonella sua <strong>di</strong>fesa del sistema copernicano. Rimane esemplare, da questopunto <strong>di</strong> vista, la memorabile e drammatica seduta del 24 marzo del 1616durante la quale viene solennemente espressa la solidarietà dei Lincei aGalileo dopo l’ammonizione dell’autorità ecclesiastica e vengono presidrastici provve<strong>di</strong>menti nei confronti <strong>di</strong> Luca Valerio che non con<strong>di</strong>vide laposizione dei compagni. 11Questo è senz’altro uno degli episo<strong>di</strong> più significativi per capire il sensodell’impegno intellettuale della “stu<strong>di</strong>osa compagnia”. Chiaramente le decisioniprese nei confronti <strong>di</strong> Luca Valerio devono servire anche da ammonimentoper i futuri comportamenti che andassero contro i fini per cuil’Accademia era stata costituita, ma riba<strong>di</strong>scono soprattutto che tra queifini, fondamentale è quello della libertà del confronto e del <strong>di</strong>battito, cioèdella libertà della ricerca. Appena pochi mesi prima della drammatica sedu-9 Su questo riman<strong>di</strong>amo a A. Alessandrini, Galileo Galilei Linceo. Origini cattolichedell’Accademia, in “Stu<strong>di</strong> Cattolici”, 1965, 3, pp. 35-44; Id., Documenti lincei e cimeli galileianiesposti nella mostra organizzata nella Biblioteca Accademica, Roma 1965, pp. 145-229;R. Morghen, Galileo e l’Accademia dei Lincei, in Aa.Vv., Galileo Galilei. Celebrazioni del IVcentenario della nascita, Roma 1965, pp. 131-143; R. Westfall, Galileo and the Accademia deiLincei, in P. Galluzzi (a cura <strong>di</strong>), Novità celesti e crisi del <strong>sapere</strong>, Firenze 1984, pp. 189-200.10 G. Olmi, op. cit., p. 223.11 Cfr. G. Gabrieli, Verbali delle adunanze e cronaca della prima accademia lincea (1603-1639), in Contributi, vol. I, pp. 335-338.
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