page_title: Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli
context_page_description: The Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna is an academic society in Bologna, Italy, that was founded in 1690 and prospered in the Age of Enlightenment. Today it is closely associated with the University of Bologna.
context_section_description: The Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna was formally inaugurated in 1714, and the Accademia degli Inquieti merged into it. Marsigli had also founded an Academy of Fine Arts in his house for painting, sculpture and architecture. The Senate allowed him to join this academy, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, to the Science Academy. Pope Clement XI was a strong supporter of the Fine Arts Academy and supplied it with its statutes. The Arts Academy was sometimes called the Accademia Clementina di Bologna in his honor. The Accademia Clementina was on the first floor of the Institute in the Palazzo Poggi, the Accademia delle Scienze on the second floor and the observatory on the third floor.
  The science academy initially had five professorial chairs. Marsigli's vision was that the Accademia delle Scienze would carry out scientific research in the tradition of Galileo and Newton. At first, the institute did not come up to Marsigli's expectations. He found that it was used only as a place for intellectual entertainment, a place to show off to visitors to the city, and few people attended the lectures or scientific demonstrations. In 1723 a serious conflict arose between Marsigli, who had largely funded the institute, and the Senate of Bologna, who were in charge of it. The Senate had not, in Marsigli's view, met the conditions of his donation. With pressure from the Pope, the issues were temporarily resolved to Marsigli's satisfaction in 1726, but his enemies continued to be obstructive, and in 1728 Marsigli abandoned his project in disgust. Marsigli died in 1730.
  Various changes and additions were made to the two-story Palazzo Poggi to accommodate the needs of the institute. The Astronomical Observatory Tower (Specola) was built in 1725 to a design by Carlo Francesco Dotti. Laboratories, galleries and workshops were set up, and the institute became a research facility as well as a venue for exchanging information. In 1727 Marsigli transferred his collection of materials from the Dutch East and West Indies to the institute. The institute published its first volume of Proceedings in 1731, three volumes between 1745 and 1747, and five more volumes before the end of the eighteenth century. The institute helped pull Bologna out of its provincial isolation, reengaging with centers such as the French Academy of Sciences and the British Royal Society.
caption: Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, the founder of the Institute
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