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ACADEMIES . The word " See also:academy" is derived from " the See also:olive See also: This academy was the prototype of the learned coteries of See also:Paris which See also:Moliere afterwards satirized. It took all knowledge for its See also:province; it included the learned See also:priest and the See also:prince who could not write his own name, and it sought to solve all problems by witty See also:definitions.
The See also:David of Alcuin's academy (such was the name that the See also:emperor assumed) found no successors or imitators, and the tradition of an See also:Oxford academy of See also:Alfred the See also:Great has been proved to See also:rest on a See also:forgery. The academy of arts founded at See also:Florence in 1270 by Brunetto See also:Latini was See also:short-lived and has See also:left no memories, and modern See also:literary academies may be said to trace their lineage in See also:direct descent from the troubadours of the early 14th century. The first Floral See also:Games were held at See also:Toulouse in May 1324, at the See also:summons of a gild of troubadours, who invited " See also:honourable lords, friends and companions who possess the science whence See also:spring joy, See also:pleasure, See also:good sense, merit and politeness " to assemble in their See also:garden of the " See also:gay science " and recite their See also:works. The See also:prize, a See also:golden See also:violet, was awarded to Vidal de See also:Castelnaudary for a poem to the See also:glory of the Virgin. In spite of the See also:English invasion and other adversities the Floral Games survived till, about the See also:year 1500, their permanence was secured by the munificent See also:bequest of Clemente Isaure, a See also:rich See also:lady of Toulouse. In 1694 the Academie See also:ales Jeux Floraux was constituted an academy by letters patent of See also: 1442 by Cosimo de' See also:Medici, which numbered among its members Marsilio See also:Ficino, See also:Pico della See also:Mirandola, See also:Machiavelli and Angelo Poliziano. It was, as the name implies, chiefly occupied with Plato, but it added to its See also:objects the study of See also:Dante and the See also:purification of the See also:Italian See also:language, and though it lived for barely See also:half a century, yet its See also:influence as a model for similar learned See also:societies was great and lasting.
Modern Academies.—Academies have played an important See also:part in the revival of learning and in the See also:birth of scientific inquiry. They See also:mark an See also:age of aristocracies when letters were the distinction of the few and when science had not been differentiated into distinct branches, each with its own specialists. Their See also:interest is mainly historical, and it cannot be maintained that at the See also:present See also:day they have much direct influence on the See also:advancement of learning either by way of See also:research or of publication. For example, the See also:standard dictionaries of See also:France, See also:Germany and See also:England are the See also:work, not of academies, but of individual scholars, of See also:Littre, See also:Grimm and See also: See also:Belgium and the See also:Netherlands.—A literary society was founded at See also:Brussels in 1769 by See also:Count Cobenzl, the See also:prime See also:minister of Maria See also:Theresa, which after various changes of name and constitution became in 1816 the Academie imperiale et royale See also:des sciences et belles-lettres, under the patronage of See also: See also:Colbert conceived the idea of giving an official status to this learned club. A number of chemists, physicians, anatomists and eminent mathematicians, among whom were Christian Huyghens and See also:Bernard Frenicle de Bessy (1605-1675), the author of a famous See also:treatise on magic squares, were chosen to form the nucleus of the new society. See also:Pensions were granted by Louis XIV. to each of the members, and a fund for See also:instruments and experiment was placed at their disposal. They began their session on the 22nd of See also:December 1666 in the Royal Library, See also:meeting twice a II week—the mathematicians on Wednesdays, the physicists on Saturdays. See also:Duhamel was appointed permanent secretary, a See also:post he owed more to his polished Latinity than to his scientific attainments, all the proceedings of the society being recorded in Latin, and C. A. See also:Couplet was made treasurer. At first the academy was rather a laboratory and See also:observatory than an academy proper. Experiments were undertaken in See also:common and results discussed. Several See also:foreign savants, in particular the Danish astronomer See also:Roemer, joined the society, attracted by the liberality of the See also:Grand MVIonarque; and the See also:German physician and geometer Tschirnhausen and See also:Sir See also:Isaac See also:Newton were made foreign associates. The See also:death of Colbert, who was succeeded by See also:Louvois, exercised a disastrous effect on the fortunes of the academy. The labours of the academicians were diverted from the pursuit of pure science to such works as the construction of fountains and cascades at See also:Versailles, and the mathematicians were employed to calculate the odds of the games of See also:lansquenet and See also:basset. In 1699 the academy was reconstituted by Louis See also:Phelypeaux, See also:comte de Pontchartrain, under whose See also:department as secretary of state the academies came. By its new constitution it consisted of twenty-five members, ten honorary, men of high See also:rank interested in science, and fifteen pensionaries, who were the working members. Of these three were geometricians, three astronomers, three mechanicians, three anatomists, and three chemists. Each of these three had two associates, and, besides, each See also:pensionary had the See also:privilege of naming a See also:pupil. There were eight foreign and four See also:free associates. The See also:officers were, a See also:president and a See also:vice-president, named by the king from among the honorary members, and a secretary and treasurer chosen from the pensionaries, who held See also:office for See also:life. See also:Fontenelle, a See also:man of wit, and rather a popularizer of science than an See also:original investigator, succeeded Duhamel as secretary. The constitution was purely aristocratical, differing in that respect from that of the See also:French Academy, in which the principle of equality among the members was never violated. Science was not yet strong enough to dispense with the patronage of the great. The two leading See also:spirits of the academy at this See also:period were See also:Clairault and See also:Reaumur. To trace the subsequent fortunes of this academy would be to write the history of the rise and progress of science in France. It has reckoned among its members See also:Laplace, See also:Buffon, See also:Lagrange, D'See also:Alembert, See also:Lavoisier, and See also:Jussieu, the See also:father of modern See also:botany. On the 21st of December 1792 it met for the last See also:time, and it was suppressed with its See also:sister academies by the See also:act of the See also:Convention on the 8th of See also:April 1793. Some of its members were guillotined, some were imprisoned, more were reduced to poverty. The See also:aristocracy of See also:talent was almost as much detested and persecuted by the Revolution as that of rank. In 1795 the Convention decided on See also:founding an Institut See also:National which was to replace all the academies, and its first class corresponded closely to the old academy of sciences. In 1816 the Academie des sciences was reconstituted as a branch of the Institute. The new academy has reckoned among its members, besides many other brilliant men, See also:Carnot the engineer, the physicists See also:Fresnel, See also:Ampere, See also:Arago, See also:Biot, the chemists Gay-Lussac and See also:Thenard, the zoologists G. See also:Cuvier and the two See also:Geoffroy See also:Saint-Hilaires. In France there were also considerable academies in most of the large towns. See also:Montpellier, for example, had a royal academy of sciences, founded in 1706 by Louis XIV., on nearly the same footing as that of Paris, of which, indeed, it was in some measure the counterpart. It was reconstituted in 1847, and organized under three sections—medicine, science and letters. Toulouse also has an academy, founded in 1640, under the name of Societe de lanternistes; and there were analogous institutions at See also:Nimes, See also:Arles, See also:Lyons, See also:Dijon, See also:Bordeaux and elsewhere. Germany.—The Collegium Curiosum was a scientific society, founded by J. C. See also:Sturm, See also:professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the university of Altorf, in See also:Franconia, in 1672, on the See also:plan of the Accademia del Cimento. It originally consisted of twenty members, and continued to flourish See also:long after the death of its founder. The early labours of the society weredevoted to the repetition (under varied conditions) of the moei notable experiments of the day, or to the discussion of the results. Two volumes (1676–1685) of proceedings were published by Sturm. The former, Collegium Experimentale sive Curiosum, begins with an See also:account of the diving-See also:bell, "a new invention"; next follow chapters on the See also:camera obscura, the Torricellian experiment, the See also:air-See also:pump, See also:microscope, See also:telescope, &c. The Akademie der Wissenschaften zu See also:Berlin, if judged by the work it has produced, holds the first See also:place in Germany. Its origin was the Societas Regia Scientiarum, constituted in 1700 by See also:Frederick I. on the comprehensive plan of Leibnitz, who was its first president. Hampered and restricted under Frederick William I., it was reorganized under Frederick II. on the French model furnished by See also:Maupertuis, and received its present cons stitution in 1812. It is divided into two classes and four sections —physical and mathematical, philosophical and historical. Each section has a permanent secretary with a See also:salary of 1200 marks, and each of the 50 See also:regular members is paid boo marks a year. Among the contributors to its transactions (first See also:volume published in 1710), to name only the dead, we find Immanuel See also:Bekker, Bockling, See also:Bernoulli, F. See also:Bopp, P. See also:Buttmann, See also:Encke (of See also:comet fame), L. See also:Euler, the See also:brothers Grimm, the two Humboldts, See also:Lachmann, Lagrange, Leibnitz, T. See also:Mommsen, J. See also: It is .distinguished from other academies by the part it has played in national See also:education. See also:Maximilian See also:Joseph, the enlightened elector (afterwards king) of See also:Bavaria, induced the See also:government to See also:hand over to it the organization and superintendence of public instruction, and this work was carried out by Privy-councillor See also:Jacobi, the president of the academy. In See also:recent years the academy has specially occupied itself with natural history.
The Konigliche A kademie der Wissenschaften, at See also:Erfurt, which See also:dates from 1754 and devotes itself to applied science, and the See also:Hessian academy of sciences at See also:Giessen, which publishes medical transactions, also deserve mention.
Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland.— In 1616 a See also:scheme for founding a royal academy was started by See also:Edmund See also:Bolton, an eminent See also:scholar and See also:antiquary, who in his See also:petition to King See also: The Royal Irish Academy grew from a society established in Dublin about 1782 by a number of gentlemen, most of whom belonged to the university. They held weekly meetings, and read, in turn, essays on various subjects. They professed to unite the advancement of science with the history of mankind and polite literature. The first volume of transactions appeared in 1788. See also:Hungary.—The Magyar Tudomdnyos Akademia (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) was founded in 1825 by Count See also:Stephen See also:Szechenyi for the encouragement of the study of the Hungarian language and the various sciences. It has about 300 members and a See also:fine See also:building in See also:Budapest containing a picture See also:gallery and See also:housing various national collections. Italy.—The Academia Secretorum Naturae was founded at See also:Naples in 156o by Giambattista della Porta. It arose like the French Academy from a little club of friends who met at della Porta's house and called themselves the Otiosi. The See also:condition of membership was to have made some See also:discovery in natural science. Della Porta was suspected of practising the See also:black arts and summoned to See also:Rome to justify himself before the papal See also:court. He was acquitted by See also:Paul V., but commanded to See also:close his academy. The Accademia dei Lincei, to which della Porta was admitted when at Rome, and of which he became the See also:chief See also:ornament, had been founded in 1603 by Federigo Cesi, the marchese di Monticelli. Galileo and See also:Colonna were among its earliest members. Its See also:device was a See also:lynx with upturned eyes, tearing a See also:Cerberus with its claws. As a See also:monument the Lincei have left the magnificent edition of See also:Fernandez de See also:Oviedo's Natural History of See also:Mexico (Rome, 1651, fol.), printed at the expense of the founder and elaborately annotated by the members. This academy was resuscitated in 1870 under the title of Reale Accademia dei Lincei, with a literary as well as a scientific See also:side, endowed in 1878 by King See also:Humbert; and in 1883 it received official recognition from the Italian government, being lodged in the See also:Corsini palace, whose owner made over to it his library and collections. The Accademia del Cimento was founded at Florence in 1657 by See also:Leopold de' Medici, See also:brother of the grand See also:duke Ferdinand II., at the instigation of Vincenzo Viviani, the geometrician. It was an academy of experiment, a deliberate protest against the deductive science of the quadrivium. Its founder left it when he was made a See also:cardinal, and it lasted only ten years, but the grand See also:folio published in Italian (afterwards translated into Latin) in 1667 is a landmark in the history of science. It contains experiments on the pressure of the air (See also:Torricelli and See also:Borelli were among its members), on the incompressibility of See also:water and on universal gravity. Science in Italy is now represented by the Reale Accademia delle Science (Royal Academy of Sciences), founded in 1757 as a private society, and incorporated under its present name by royal See also:warrant in 1783. It consists of 40 full members, who must be residents of See also:Turin, 20 non-See also:resident, and 20 foreign members. It publishes a yearly volume of proceedings and awards prizes to learned works. There are, besides, royal academies of science at Naples, See also:Lucca and Palermo. See also:Portugal.—The Academia Real das Sciencias (Royal Academy of Sciences) at See also:Lisbon dates from 1779. It was reorganized in 1851 and since then has been chiefly occupied in the publication of Portugaliae Monumenta Historica. See also:Russia.—The Academie Imperiale des sciences de Saint-Petersbourg, Imperatorskaya Akademiya naiik, was projected by See also:Peter the Great. The See also:advice of See also:Wolff and Leibnitz was sought, and several learned foreigners were invited to become members. Peter himself See also:drew the plan, and signed it on the loth of See also:February 1724; but his sudden death delayed its fulfilment. On the 21st of December 1725, however, See also:Catherine I. established it according to his plan, and on the 27th the society met for the first time. On the 1st of See also:August 1726, Catherine honoured the meeting with her presence, when Professor G. B. See also:Bilfinger, a German scientist, delivered an oration upon the determination of magnetic See also:variations and See also:longitude. Shortly afterwards the empress settled a fund of £4982 per annum for the support of the academy; and 15 eminent members were admitted and pensioned, under the title of professors in the various branches of science and literature. The most distinguished of these were See also:Nicholas and See also:Daniel Bernouilli, the two Delisles, Bilfinger, and Wolff. During the short reign of Peter II. the salaries of members were discontinued, and the academy neglected by the Court; but it was again patronized by the empress See also:Anne, who added a See also:seminary under the superintendence of the professors. Both institutions flourished for some time under the direction of See also:Baron Johann Albrecht Korff (1697-1766). At the See also:accession of See also: Of the Acta Academiae two volumes are printed every year. In 1872 there was published at St Petersburg in 2 vols,, Tableau See also:general des matures contenues clans See also:les publications de l'Academie Imperiale des Sciences de St Petersbourg. The, academy is composed, as at first, of fifteen professors, besides the president and director. Each of the professors has a house and an annual See also:stipend of from £200 to £600. Besides the professors, there are four pensioned adjuncts, who are present at the meetings of the society, and succeed to the first vacancies. The buildings and apparatus of this academy are on a vast See also:scale. There is a fine library, of 36,000 books and See also:manuscripts; and an extensive museum, considerably augmented by the collections made by See also:Pallas, See also:Gmelin, Guldenstadt and other professors, during their expeditions through the See also:Russian empire. The See also:motto of the society is Paulatim. See also:Spain.—The Real Academia Espanola at See also:Madrid (see below) had a predecessor in the Academia Naturae curiosorum (dating from 1657) modelled on that of Naples. It was reconstituted in 1847 after the model of the French academy. See also:Sweden.—The Kongliga Svenska Velenskaps Akademien owes its institution to six persons of distinguished learning, among whom was See also:Linnaeus. They met on the 2nd of See also:June 1739, and formed a private society, the Collegium Curiosorum; and at the end of the year their first publication made its See also:appearance. As the meetings continued and the members increased the society attracted the See also:notice of the king; and on the 31st of See also: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (See also:Boston), the second oldest scientific organization in the United States, was chartered in See also:Massachusetts in 178o by some of the most prominent men of that time. James See also:Bowdoin was its first president, John See also: See also:Marsh, See also:Wolcott See also:Gibbs, Alexander See also:Agassiz and Ira Remsen. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was organized in 1812. It has a large library, very rich in natural history, and its museum, with nearly half a million specimens, is particularly strong in conchology and See also:ornithology. The society has published See also:Journals since 1817, and. Proceedings since 1841; it also has published the American See also:Journal of Conchology. The American Entomological Society (in 1859-1867 the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, and since 1876 part of this academy) has published Proceedings since 1861, and the Entomological See also:News (a monthly). There are also other scientific organizations like the American, Association for the Advancement of Science (chartered in 1874, as a continuation of the American Association of Geologists, founded in 1840 and becoming in 1842 the American Association of Geologists and Naturalists), which publishes its Proceedings annually; the American See also:Geographical Society (1852), with headquarters in New See also:York; the National Geographic Society (1888), with headquarters in See also:Washington, D.C.; the See also:Geological Society of America (1888), the American Ornithologists' See also:Union (1883), the American Society of Naturalists (1883), the Botanical Society of America. (1893), the American Academy of See also:Medicine (1876); and See also:local academies of science, or of special sciences, in many of the larger cities. The Smithsonian Institution at Washington is treated in a See also:separate See also:article. II. ACADEMIES OF BELLES LETTRES Belgium.—Belgium has always been famous for its literary societies. The little See also:town of Diest boasts that it possessed a society of poets in 1302, and the Catherinists of See also:Alost date from 1107. It is at least certain that numerous See also:Chambers of See also:Rhetoric (so academies were then called) existed in the first years of the See also:rule of the house of See also:Burgundy. France.—The French Academy (l'Academie francaise) was established by See also:order of the king in the year 1635, but in its original form existed four or five years earlier. About the year 1629 certain literary friends in Paris agreed to meet informally each See also:week at the house of Valentin Courart, the king's secretary. The conversation turned mostly on literary topics; and when one of the number had finished some literary work, he read it to the rest, and they gave their opinions upon it. The fame of these meetings, though the members were See also:bound to secrecy, reached the ears of Cardinal See also:Richelieu, who promised his protection and offered to incorporate the society by letters patent. Nearly all the members would have preferred the charms of privacy, but, considering the See also:risk they would run in incurring the cardinal's displeasure, and that by the See also:letter of the See also:law all meetings of any sort were prohibited, they expressed their gratitude for the high honour the cardinal thought See also:fit to confer on them, proceeded at once to organize their body, See also:settle their See also:laws and constitution, appoint officers and choose a name. Letters patent were granted by the king on the 29th of See also:January 1635. The officers consisted of a director and a See also:chancellor, chosen by See also:lot, and a permanent secretary, chosen by See also:vote. They elected also a publisher, not a member of the body. The director presided at the meetings, being considered as See also:Primus inter pares. The chancellor kept the See also:seals and sealed all the official documents of the academy. The cardinal was ex officio See also:protector. The meetings were held weekly as before: The object for which the academy was founded, as set forth in its statutes, was the purification of the French language. The principal See also:function of the academy shall be to labour with all care and See also:diligence to give certain rules to our language, and to render it pure, eloquent and capable of treating the arts and sciences " (Art. 24). They proposed " to cleanse the language from the impurities it has contracted in the mouths of the common See also:people, from the See also:jargon of the lawyers, from the misusages of ignorant courtiers, and the abuses of the See also:pulpit" (Letter of Academy to Cardinal Richelieu). The number of members was fixed at forty. The original members formed a nucleus of eight, and it was not till 1639 that the full number was completed. Their first undertaking consisted of essays written by the members in rotation. To See also:judge by the titles and specimens which have come down to us, these possessed no special originality or merit, but resembled the i rLbei ets of the Greek rhetoricians. Next, at the instance of Cardinal Richelieu, they undertook a See also:criticism of See also:Corneille's See also:Cid, the most popular work of the day. It was a rule of the academy that no work could be criticized except at the author's See also:request, and fear of incurring the cardinal's displeasure wrung from Corneille an unwilling consent. The critique of the academy was re-written several times before it met with the cardinal's approbation. After six months of elaboration, it was published under the title, Sentiments de l'academie francaise sur le Cid. This See also:judgment did not satisfy Corneille, as a saying attributed to him on the occasion shows. "Horatius," he said, referring to his last See also:play, " was condemned by the Duumviri, but he was absolved by the people." But the crowning labour of, the academy, begun in 1639, was a See also:dictionary of the French language. By the twenty-See also:sixth article of their statutes, they were pledged to compose a dictionary, a See also:grammar, a treatise on rhetoric and one on See also:poetry. See also:Jean See also:Chapelain, one of the original members and leading spirits of the academy, pointed out that the dictionary would naturally be the first of these works to be undertaken, and drew up a plan of the work, which was to a great extent carried out. A See also:catalogue was to be made of all the most approved authors, See also:prose and See also:verse: these were to be distributed among the members, and all approved words and phrases were to be marked for incorporation in the dictionary. For this they resolved themselves into two committees, which sat on other than the regular days. C. F. de See also:Vaugelas was appointed editor in chief. To remunerate him for his labours, he received from the cardinal a See also:pension of 2000 francs. The first edition of this dictionary appeared in 1694, the sixth and last in 1835, since when complements have been added. This old Academie francaise perished with the other pre-revolutionary academies in 1793, and it has little but the name in common with the present academy, a section of the Institute. That Jean See also:Baptiste Suard, the first perpetual secretary of the new, had been a member of the old academy, is the one connecting See also:link. 
The See also:chronicles of the Institute down to the end of 1895 have been given in full by the count de Franqueville in Le premier siecle de l'Institut de France, and from it we See also:extract a few leading facts and dates. Before the Revolution there were in existence the following institutions:-(1) the Academie de poesie et de musique, founded by Charles IX. in 1570 at the instigation of Baif, which counted among its members See also:Ronsard and most of the Pleiade; (2) the Academie des See also:inscriptions et medailles, founded in 1701; (3) the Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres; (4) the old Academie des sciences; (5) the Academie de peinture et de See also:sculpture, a school as well as an academy; (6) the Academie d'See also:architecture. The object of the Convention in 1795 was to rebuild all the institutions that the Revolution had shattered and to combine them in an organic whole; in the words of the See also:preamble:—" Il y a pour See also:Joule la Republique un Institut national See also:charge de recueiller les decouvertes, de perfeclionner les arts et les sciences." As See also:Renan has remarked, the Institute embodied two ideas, one disputable, the other of undisputed truth:—That science and art are a state concern, and that there is a solidarity between all branches of knowledge and human activities. The Institute was at first composed of 184 members resident in Paris and an equal number living in other parts of France, with 24 foreign members, divided into three classes, (1) See also:physical and mathematical science, (2) moral and See also:political science, (3) literature and the fine arts. It held its first sitting on the 4th of April 1796. See also:Napoleon as first See also:consul suppressed the second class, as subversive of government, and reconstituted the other classes as follows: (1) as before, (2) French language and literature, (3) See also:ancient history and literature, (4) fine arts. The class of moral and political science was restored on the proposal of M. See also:Guizot in 1832, and the present Institute consists of the five classes named above. Each class or academy has its own special See also:jurisdiction and work, with special funds; but there is a general fund and a common library, which, with other common affairs, are managed by a See also:committee of the Institute—two chosen from each academy, with the secretaries. Each member of the Institute receives an annual See also:allowance of 1200 francs, and the secretaries of the different academies have a, salary of 6000 francs. The class of the Institute which deals with the language and literature takes See also:precedence, and is known as the Academie fran4aise. There was at first no perpetual secretary, each secretary of sections presiding in turn. Shortly afterwards
J. B. Sward was elected to the post, and ever since the history of the academy has been determined by the reigns of its successive perpetual secretaries. The secretary, to See also:borrow an See also:epigram of Sainte-Beuve, both reigns and governs. There have been in order: Suard (13 years), See also:Francois Juste See also:Raynouard (9 years), Louis See also:Simon See also:Auger, Francois See also:Andrieux, See also:Arnault, See also:Villemain (34 years), See also:Henri Joseph Patin, Charles Camille Doucet (19 years), Gaston See also:Boissier. Under Raynouard the academy ran a tilt against the See also:abbe See also:Delille and his followers. Under Auggr it ;did See also:battle with romanticism, " a new literary See also:schism." Auger did not live to see the See also:election of Lamartine in 1829, and it needed ten more years for See also:Victor See also:Hugo after many vain assaults to enter by the See also:breach.. The academy is professedly non-political. It accepted and even welcomed in See also:succession the empire, the restoration and the reign of Louis Philippe, and it tolerated the See also:republic of 1848; but to the second empire it offered a. passive resistance, and no politician of the second empire, what-ever his gifts as an orator or a writer, obtained an armchair. The one seeming exception, Emile 011ivier, confirms the, rule. He was elected on. the See also:eve of the Franco-German See also:war, but his discours de reception, a eulogy of the emperor, was deferred and never delivered. The Institute appears in the annual See also:budget for a See also: It has also large vested funds in See also:property, including the magnificent See also:estate and library of See also:Chantilly bequeathed to it by the duc d'See also:Aumale. It awards various prizes, of which the most considerable are the See also:Montyon prizes, each of 20,000 fr., one for the poor Frenchman who has performed the most virtuous See also:action during the year, and one for the French author who has published the See also:book of most service to morality. The conditions are liberally interpreted; the first prize is divided among a number of the deserving poor, and the. second has been assigned for lexicons to Moliere, Corneille and Madame de See also:Sevigne.
One alteration in the methods of the French Academy has to be chronicled: in 1859 it became the See also:custom to discuss the claims of the candidates at a preliminary meeting of the members. In 1880, on the instance of the philosopher See also:Caro, supported by A. See also:Dumas ffls, and by the aged See also:Desire See also:Nisard, it was decided to abandon this method:
A point of considerable interest is the degree in which, since its See also:foundation, the French Academy has or has not represented the best literary life of France. It appears from an examination of the lists of members that a surprising number of authors of the highest excellence have, from one cause or another, escaped. the honour of academic "See also:immortality." When the academy. was founded in 1634, the moment was not a very brilliant one in French letters. Among the forty original members we find; only ten who are remembered in literary history; of these four may reasonably be considered famous still-See also:Balzac, Chapelain, See also:Racan and Voiture. In that See also:generation See also:Scarron was never one of the forty, nor do the names of Descartes, See also:Malebranche or Pascal occur; Descartes lived in See also: Of the great theologians of that and the subsequent age, the Academy contained See also:Bossuet, Flechier, See also:Fenelon, and See also:Massillon, but not See also:Bourdaloue. La Bruyere and Fontenelle were among the forty, but not Saint-Simon, whose claims as a man of letters were unknown to his contemporaries. Early in the 18th century almost every literary personage of See also:eminence found his place naturally in the Academy. The only exceptions of importance
' The Academy has made the amende honorable by placing in the Salle des seances a bust of Moliere, with the inscription Rienne mangue d sa gloire, ii munquait el to notre."
were See also:Vauvenargues, who died too early for the honour, and two men of genius but of dubious social position, Le See also:Sage and the abbe See also:Prevost d'Exiles. The approach of the Revolution affected gravely the personnel of the Academy. See also:Montesquieu and See also:Voltaire belonged to it, but not See also: In later times neither See also:Alphonse See also:Daudet nor Edmond de See also:Goncourt, neither See also:Guy de See also:Maupassant nor Ferdinand See also:Fabre, has been among the forty immortals. The non-election, after a long life of distinction, of the scholar Fustel de Coulanges is less easy to account for. See also:Verlaine, although a poet of genius, was of the See also:kind that no academy can ever be expected to recognize. Concerning the influence of the French Academy on the language and literature, the most opposite opinions have been advanced. On the one hand, it has been asserted that it has corrected the judgment, purified the See also:taste and formed the language of French writers, and that to it we owe the most striking characteristics of French literature, its purity, delicacy and flexibility. Thus Matthew Arnold, in his See also:Essay on the Literary Influence of Academies, has pronounced a glowing See also:panegyric on the French Academy as a high court of letters, and a rallying-point for educated See also:opinion, as asserting the authority of a See also:master in matters of See also:tone and taste. To it he attributes in a great measure that thoroughness, that openness of mind, that See also:absence of vulgarity which he finds everywhere in French literature; and to the want of a similar institution in England he traces that eccentricity, that provincial spirit, that coarseness which, as he thinks, are barely compensated by English genius. Thus, too, Renan, one of its most distinguished members, says that it is owing to the academy " qu'on peut tout dire sans appareil scholastique avec la langue des gens du monde." " Ah ne dites," he exclaims, " qu'ils n'ont rien fait, See also:ces obscures See also:beaux esprits dont la See also:vie se passe d instruire le proces des mots, a peser les syllables. Its ont fait un chef-d'ceuvre—la langue francaise." On the other hand, its inherent defects have been well summed up by P. See also:Lanfrey in his Histoire de Napoleon: " This institution had never shown itself the enemy of despotism. Founded by the See also:monarchy and for the monarchy, eminently favourable to the spirit of intrigue and favouritism, incapable of any sustained or combined labour, a stranger to those great works pursued in common which legitimize and glorify the existence of scientific bodies, occupied exclusively with learned trifles, fatal to emulation, which it pretends to stimulate, by the compromises and calculations to which it subjects it, directed in everything by See also:petty considerations, and wasting all its See also:energy in childish tournaments, in which the flatteries that it showers on others are only a foretaste of the compliments it expects in return for itself, the French Academy seems to have received from its founders the special See also:mission to transform genius into See also:bel esprit, and it would be hard to produce a man of talent whom it has not demoralized. Drawn in spite of itself towards politics, it alternately pursues and avoids them; but it is specially attracted by the See also:gossip of politics, and whenever it has so far emancipated itself as to go into opposition, it does so as the See also:champion of ancient prejudices: If we examine its influence on the national genius, we shall see that it has given it a flexibility; a brilliance, a See also:polish, which it never possessed before; but it has done so at the expense of its masculine qualities, its originality, its spontaneity, its vigour, its natural See also:grace. It has disciplined it, but it has emasculated, impoverished and rigidified it. It See also:sees in taste, not a sense of the beautiful, but a certain type of correctness, an elegant form of mediocrity. It has substituted pomp for grandeur, school routine for individual See also:inspiration, elaborateness for simplicity, fadeur and the monotony of literary orthodoxy for variety, the source and spring of intellectual life; and in the works produced under its auspices we discover the rhetorician and the writer, never the man. By all its traditions the academy was made to be the natural ornament of a monarchical society. Richelieu conceived and created it as a sort of See also:superior centralization applied to See also:intellect, as a high literary court to maintain intellectual unity and protest against innovation. Bonaparte, aware of all this, had thought of re-establishing its ancient privileges; but it had in his eyes one fatal defect—esprit. See also:Kings of France could condone a witticism even against themselves, a parvenu could not." On the whole the influence of the French Academy has been conservative rather than creative. It has done much by its example for See also:style, but its attempts to impose its laws on language have, from the nature of the See also:case, failed. For, however perfectly a dictionary or a grammar may represent the existing language of a nation, an original genius is certain to arise—a Victor Hugo or an Alfred de Musset—who will set at See also:defiance all dictionaries and academic rules. Germany.—Of the German literary academies the most celebrated was See also:Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (the Fruitful Society), established at See also:Weimar in 1617. Five princes were among the original members. The object was to purify the See also:mother See also:tongue. The German academies copied those of Italy in their See also:quaint titles and petty ceremonials, and exercised little permanent influence on the language or literature of the country. Italy.—Italy in the 16th century was remarkable for the number of its literary academies. See also:Tiraboschi, in his History of Italian Literature, has given a list of 171; and Jarkius, in his Specimen Historiae Academiarum Conditarum, enumerates nearly 700. Many of these, with a sort of Socratic See also:irony, gave themselves ludicrous names, or names expressive of See also:ignorance. Such were the Lunatici of Naples, the Estravaganti, the Fulminales, the Trapessati, the Drowsy, the Sleepers, the Anxious, the Confused, the Unstable, the Fantastic, the Transformed, the Ethereal. " The first academies of Italy chiefly directed their See also:attention to classical literature; they compared manuscripts; they suggested new readings or new interpretations; they de-ciphered inscriptions or coins, they sat in judgment on a Latin See also:ode or debated the propriety of a phrase. Their own poetry had, perhaps, never been neglected; but it was not till the writings of See also:Bembo furnished a new See also:code of criticism in the Italian language that they began to study it with the same minuteness as modern Latin." " They were encouragers of a numismatic and See also:lapidary erudition, elegant in itself, and throwing for ever little specks of light on the still ocean of the past, but not very favourable to comprehensive observation, and tending to bestow on an unprofitable pedantry the honours of real learning."' The Italian See also:nobility, excluded as they mostly were from politics, and living in cities, found in literature a See also:consolation and a career. Such academies were oligarchical in their constitution; they encouraged culture, but tended to hamper genius and extinguish originality. Far the most celebrated was the Accademia della Crusca or Furfuratorum; that is, of See also:bran, or of the sifted, founded in 1582. The title was borrowed from a previous society at See also:Perugia, the Accademia degli Scossi, of the well-shaken. Its device was a See also:sieve; its motto, "11 pift bel fior ne coglie " (it collects the finest See also:flower) ; its principal object the purification of the language. Its great work was the Vocabulario See also:delta Crusca, printed at See also:Venice in 1612. It was composed avowedly on Tuscan principles, and regarded the 14th century as the Augustan period of the language. Paul Beni assailed it in his See also:Anti-Crusca, and this exclusive Tuscan purism has disappeared in subsequent See also:editions. The Accademia delta Crusca is now incorporated with ' See also:Hallam's Int. to Lit. of Europe, vol. i. p. 654, and vol. ii. p. 502. two older societies—the Accademia degli Apatici (the Impartials) and the Accademia Florentina. Among the numerous other literary academies of Italy we may mention the academy of Naples, founded about 1440 by See also:Alphonso, the king; the Academy of Florence, founded 1540, to illustrate and perfect the Tuscan tongue, especially by the close study of See also:Petrarch; the Intronati of See also:Siena, 1525; the Infiammati of See also:Padua, 1534; the Rozzi of Siena, suppressed by Cosimo, 1568. The Academy of Humorists arose from a casual meeting of witty noblemen at the See also:marriage of Lorenzo Marcini, a See also:Roman See also:gentleman. It was See also:carnival time, and to give the ladies some diversion they recited verses, sonnets and speeches, first impromptus and afterwards set compositions. This gave them the name, See also:Belli Humori, which, after they resolved to form an academy of belles lettres, they changed to Humoristi. In 1690 the Accademia degli Arcadi was founded at Rome, for the purpose of reviving the study of poetry, by See also:Crescimbeni, the author of a history of Italian poetry. Among its members were princes, cardinals and other ecclesiastics; and, to avoid disputes about pre-eminence, all came to its meetings masked and dressed like Arcadian shepherds. Within ten years from its See also:establishment the number of academicians was 600. The Royal Aca,demy of See also:Savoy dates from 1719, and was made a royal academy by Charles See also:Albert in 1848. Its See also:emblem is a gold See also:orange See also:tree full of See also:flowers and See also:fruit; its motto " See also:Flores fructusque perennes," the same as that of the famous Florimentane Academy, founded at See also:Annecy by St See also:Francis de Sales. It has published valuable memoirs on the history and antiquities of Savoy. Spain.—The Real Academia Espanola at Madrid held its first meeting in See also:July 1713, in the palace of its founder, the duke d'Escalona. It consisted at first of 8 academicians, including the duke; to which number 14 others were afterwards added, the founder being chosen president or director. In 1714 the king granted them the royal See also:confirmation and protection. Their device is a crucible in the See also:middle of the See also:fire, with this motto, Limpia, fixa, y da esplendor—" It purifies, fixes, and gives brightness." The number of its members was limited to 24; the duke d'Escalona was chosen director for life, but his successors were elected yearly, and the secretary for life. Their object, as marked out by the royal See also:declaration, was to cultivate and improve the national language. They were to begin with choosing carefully such words and phrases as have been used by the best See also:Spanish writers; noting the low, barbarous or obsolete ones; and composing a dictionary wherein these might be distinguished from the former. Sweden.—The Svenska Akademien was founded in 1786, for the purpose of purifying and perfecting the Swedish language. A medal is struck by its direction every year in honour of some illustrious Swede. This academy does not publish its transactions. France.—The old Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (or " Petite Academie," founded in 1663) was an offshoot of the French Academy, which then at least contained the elite of French learning. Louis XIV. was of all French kings the one most occupied with his own aggrandisement. Literature, and even science, he only encouraged so far as they redounded to his own glory. Nor were literary men inclined to assert their See also:independence. Boileau well represented the spirit of the age when, in dedicating his tragedy See also:Berenice to Colbert, he wrote: " The least things become important if in any degree they can serve the glory and pleasure of the king." Thus it was that the Academy of Inscriptions arose. At the See also:suggestion of Colbert a See also:company (a committee we should now See also:call it) had been appointed by the king, chosen from the French Academy, charged with the office of furnishing inscriptions, devices and legends for medals. It consisted of four academicians: Chapelain, then considered the poet See also:laureate of France, one of the authors of the critique on the Cid; the abbe Amable de Bourzeis (16o61671); Francois See also:Charpentier (1620-1702), an antiquary of high repute among his contemporaries; and the abbe Jacques de Cassagnes (1636–1679), who owed his See also:appointment more to the fulsome flattery of his odes than to his really learned See also:translations of Cicero and See also:Sallust. This company used to meet in Colbert's library in the See also:winter, at his country-house at Sceaux in the summer, generally on Wednesdays, to serve the convenience of the minister, who was always present. Their meetings were principally occupied with discussing the inscriptions, statues and pictures intended for the decoration of Versailles; but Colbert, a really learned man and an enthusiastic See also:collector of manuscripts, was often pleased to converse with them on matters of art, history and antiquities. Their first published work was a collection of engravings, accompanied by descriptions, designed for some of the tapestries at Versailles. Louvois, who succeeded Colbert as a See also:superintendent of buildings, revived the company, which had begun to relax its labours. Felibien, the learned architect, and the two great poets Racine and Boileau, were added to their number. A See also:series of medals was commenced, entitled Medailles de la Grande Histoire, or, in other words, the history of the Grand Monarque. But it was to M. de Pontchartrain, See also:comptroller-general of See also:finance. and secretary of state, that the academy owed its institution. He added to the company See also:Renaudot and Jacques Tourreil, both men of vast learning, the latter See also:tutor to his son, and put at its See also:head his See also:nephew, the abbe Jean Paul See also:Bignon, librarian to the king. By a new regulation, dated the 16th of July 1701, the Academie royale des inscriptions et medailles was instituted, being composed of ten honorary members, ten pensioners, ten associates, and ten pupils. Its constitution was an almost exact copy of that of the Academy of Sciences. Among the regulations we find the following, which indicates clearly the transition from a See also:staff of learned officials to a learned body: " The academy shall concern itself with all that can contribute to the perfection of inscriptions and legends, of designs for such monuments and decorations as may be submitted to its judgment; also with the description of all See also:artistic works, present and future, and the historical explanation of the subject of such works; and as the knowledge of Greek and Latin antiquities, and of these two languages, is the best See also:guarantee for success in labours of this class, the academicians shall apply themselves to all that this See also:division of learning includes, as one of the most worthy objects of their pursuit." Among the first honorary members we find the indefatigable See also:Mabillon (excluded from the pensioners by See also:reason of his orders), Pere La See also:Chaise, the king's See also:confessor, and Cardinal See also:Rohan; among the associates Fontenelle and Rollin, whose Ancient History was submitted to the academy for revision. In 1711 they completed L'Histoire metallique du roi, of which Saint-Simon was asked to write the preface. In 1716 the See also:regent changed its title to that of the Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, a title which better suited its new See also:character. In the great battle between the Ancients and the Moderns which divided the learned See also:world in the first half of the 18th century, the Academy of Inscriptions naturally espoused the cause of the Ancients, as the Academy of Sciences did that of the Moderns. During the earlier years of the French Revolution the academy continued its labours uninterruptedly; and on the 22nd of January 1793, the day after the death of Louis XVI., we find in the Proceedings that M. See also:Brequigny read a See also:paper on the projects of marriage between See also:Queen Elizabeth and the See also:dukes of See also:Anjou and See also:Alencon. In the same year were published the 45th and 46th vols. of the Memoires de l'academie. On the 2nd of August of the same year the last seance of the old academy was held. More fortunate than its sister Academy of Sciences, it lost only three of its members by the See also:guillotine. One of these was the astronomer Sylvain See also:Bailly. Three others sat as members of the Convention; but for the honour of the academy, it should be added that all three were distinguished by their moderation.
In the first draft of the new Institute, See also:October 25, 1795, no class corresponded exactly to the old Academy of Inscriptions; but most of the members who survived found themselves
re-elected either in the class of moral and political science, under which history and geography were included as sections, or more generally under the class of literature and fine arts, which em-braced ancient languages, antiquities and monuments.
In 1816 the academy received again its old name. The Proceedings of the society embrace a vast See also: The new academy has inscribed on its lists the names of See also:Champollion, A. See also:Remusat, Raynouard, See also:Burnouf and Augustin Thierry. In consequence of the attention of several literary men in Paris having been directed to See also:Celtic antiquities, a Celtic Academy was established in that See also:city in 1805. Its objects were, first, the elucidation of the history, customs, antiquities, manners and monuments of the Celts, particularly in France; secondly, the See also:etymology of all the See also:European languages, by the aid of the Celto-British, Welsh and Erse ; and, thirdly, researches relating to' See also:Druidism. The attention of the members was also particularly called to the history and settlements of the Galatae in See also:Asia. Lenoir, the keeper of the museum of French monuments, was appointed president. The academy still exists as La societe rationale ales antiquarres de France. Great Britain.—The British Academy was the outcome of a meeting of the principal European and American academies, held at See also:Wiesbaden in October 1899. A scheme was drawn up for an See also:international association of the academies of the world under the two sections of natural science and literary science, but while the Royal Society adequately represented Englandinscience there was then no existing institution that could claim to represent England in literature, and at the first meeting of the federated academies this See also:chair was vacant. A plan was proposed by Professor H. See also:Sidgwick to add a new section to the Royal Society, but after long deliberation this was rejected by the president and council. The promoters of the plan thereupon determined to form a separate society, and invited certain persons to become the first members of a new body, to be called "The British Academy for the promotion of historical, philosophical and philological studies." The unincorporated body thus formed petitioned for a charter, and on the 8th of August 1902 the royal charter was granted and the by-laws were allowed by order in council. The objects of the academy are therein defined—"the promotion of the study of the moral and political sciences, including history; philosophy, law, politics and See also:economics, See also:archaeology and philology." The number of See also:ordinary See also:fellows (so all members are entitled) is restricted to one See also:hundred, and the academy is governed by a president (the first being See also:Lord Reay) and a council of fifteen elected annually by the fellows. Italy.—Under this class the Accademia Ercolanese (Academy of See also:Herculaneum) properly ranks. It was established at Naples about 1755, at which period a museum was formed of the antiquities found at Herculaneum, See also:Pompeii and other places, by the marquis Tanucci, who was then minister of state. Its object was to explain the paintings, &c., discovered at those places. For this purpose the members met every fortnight, and at each meeting three paintings were submitted to three academicians, who made their report at their next sitting. The first volume of their labours appeared in 1775, and they have been continued under the title of Anstickitd di Ercolano. They contain engravings. of the principal paintings, statues, bronzes, See also:marble figures, medals, utensils, &c., with explanations. In the year 1807 an academy of history and antiquities, on a new plan, was established at Naples by Joseph Bonaparte. The number of members was limited to forty, twenty of whom were to be appointed by the king; and these twenty were to present to him, for his choice, three names for each of those needed to See also:complete the full number. Eight thousand ducats were to be annually allotted for thecurrent expenses, and two thousand for prizes to the authors of four works which should be deemed by the academy most deserving of such a See also:reward. A grand meeting was to be held every year, when the prizes were to be distributed and analyses of the works read. The first meeting took place on the 25th of April 18o7; but the subsequent changes in the political state of Naples prevented the full and permanent establishment of this institution. In the same year an academy was established at Florence for the See also:illustration of Tuscan antiquities, which published some volumes of memoirs. IV. ACADEMIES OF MEDICINE AND See also:SURGERY Austria.—The defunct Academy of Surgery at Vienna was instituted in 1784 by the emperor Joseph II. under the direction of the distinguished surgeon, Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla (1728–1800). For many years it did important work, and though closed in 1848 was reconstituted by the emperor Francis Joseph in 1854. In 1874 it ceased to exist; its functions had become mainly military, and were transferred to newer schools. France.—Academie de Medecine. Medicine is a science which has always engaged the attention of the kings of France. Charlemagne established a school of medicine in the Louvre, and various societies have been founded, and privileges granted to the See also:faculty by his successors. The Academie de medecine succeeded to the old Academie royale de chirurgie et societe royale de medecine. It was erected by a royal See also:ordinance, dated December 20, 1820. It was divided into three sections—medicine, surgery and See also:pharmacy. In its constitution it closely resembled the Academie des sciences. Its function was to preserve or propagate vaccine See also:matter, and See also:answer inquiries addressed to it by the government on the subject of epidemics, sanitary reform and public See also:health generally. It has maintained an enormous See also:correspondence in all quarters of the globe and published extensive minutes. Germany.—The Academia Naturae Curiosi, afterwards called the Academia Caesaraea Leopoldina, was founded in 1662 by J. L. Bausch, a physician of See also:Leipzig, who published a general invitation to medical men to communicate all extraordinary cases that occurred in the course of their practice. The works of the Naturae Curiosi were at first published separately ; but in 1770 a new arrangement was planned for See also:publishing a volume of observations annually. From some cause, however, the first volume did not make its appearance until 1784, when. it was published under the title of Ephemerides. In 1687 the emperor Leopold took the society under his protection, and its name was changed in his honour. This academy has no fixed See also:abode, but follows the See also:home of its president. Its library remains at See also:Dresden. By its constitution the Leopoldine Academy consists of a president, two adjuncts or secretaries and unlimited colleagues or members. At their See also:admission the last come under a twofold obligation—first, to choose some subject for discussion out of the See also:animal, See also:vegetable or See also:mineral kingdoms, not previously treated by any colleague of the academy ; and, secondly, to apply them-selves to furnish materials for the annual Ephemerides. . V. ACADEMIES OE THE FINE ARTS France.—The Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture at Paris was founded by Louis XIV. in 1648, under the title of Academie royale des beaux arts, to which was afterwards united the Academie d'architecture, founded 1671. It is composed of painters, sculptors, architects, engravers and musical composers. From among the members of the society who are painters, is chosen the director of the French Academie des beaux arts at Berne, also instituted by Louis XIV. in 1677. The director's province is to superintend the studies of the painters, sculptors, &c., who, chosen by competition, are sent to Italy at the expense of the government, to complete their studies in that country. Most of the celebrated French painters have begun their career in this way. The Academie nationale de musique is the official and administrative name given in France to the grand See also:opera. In 1570 the poet See also:Bail established in his house a school of See also:music, at which ballets and masquerades were given. In 1645 See also:Mazarin brought from Italy a troupe of actors, and established them in. the See also:rue du See also:Petit See also:Bourbon, where they gave Jules See also:Strozzi's Achille in Sciro, the first opera performed in France. After Moliere's death in 1673, his See also:theatre in the Palais Royal was given to Sulli, and there were performed all See also:Gluck's great operas; there See also:Vestris danced, and there was produced Jean Jacques Rousseau's Devin du See also:Village. Great Britain.—The Royal Academy of Arts in London, founded in 1768, is described in a separate article. (See ACADEMY, ROYAL.) The Academy of Ancient Music was established in London in 1710, with the view of promoting the study and practice of vocal and instrumental See also:harmony. This institution had a fine musical library, and was aided by the performances of the gentlemen of the See also:Chapel Royal and the See also:choir of St Paul's, with the boys belonging to each, and continued to flourish for many years. About 1734 the academy became a seminary for the instruction of youth in the principles of music and the laws of harmony. The Royal Academy of Music was formed for the performance of operas, composed by See also:Handel, and conducted by him at the theatre in the Haymarket. The subscription amounted to £50,000, and the king, besides subscribing £r000, allowed the society to assume the title Royal. It consisted of a See also:governor, See also:deputy-governor and twenty directors. A contest between Handel and Senesino, one of the performers, in which the directors took the part of the latter, occasioned the See also:dissolution of the academy after it had existed with honour for more than nine years. The present Royal Academy of Music dates from 1822, and was incorporated in 1830. It instructs pupils of both sexes in music. (See also the article See also:CONSERVATOIRE for colleges of music.) Italy.—In 1778 an academy of See also:painting and sculpture was established at Turin. The meetings were held in the palace of the king, who distributed prizes among the most successful members. In See also:Milan an academy of architecture was established so early as 1380, by Gian Galeazzo See also:Visconti. About the middle of the 18th century an academy of the arts+was established there, after the example of those at Paris and Rome. The pupils were furnished with originals and See also:models, and prizes were distributed by competent See also:judges annually. The prize for painting was a gold medal. Before the effects of the French Revolution reached Italy this was one of the best establishments of the kind in that See also:kingdom. In the hall of the academy were some admirable examples of See also:Correggio, as well as several statues of great merit, particularly a small bust of See also:Vitellius, and a torso of See also:Agrippina, of most exquisite beauty. The academy of the arts, which had been long established at Florence, See also:fell into decay, but was restored in the end of the 18th century. In it there are halls for nude and See also:plaster figures, for ,the use of the sculptor and the painter, with models of all the finest statues in Italy. But the treasures of this and the other institutions for the fine arts were greatly diminished during the occupancy of Italy by the French. The academy of the arts at See also:Modena, after being plundered by the French, dwindled into a petty school for See also:drawing from living models. There is also an academy of the fine arts in See also:Mantua, and another at Venice. Russia.—The academy of St Petersburg was established in 1757 by the empress Elizabeth, at the suggestion of Count See also:Shuvalov, and annexed to the academy of sciences. The fund for its support was £4000 per annum, and. the foundation admitted forty scholars. Catherine II. formed it into a separate institution, augumented the annual See also:revenue to £12,000, and increased the number of scholars to three hundred; she built for it a large circular building, which fronts the See also:Neva. The scholars are admitted at the age of six, and continue until they have attained that of eighteen. They are. clothed, fed and lodged at the expense of the See also:crown; and are instructed in See also:reading, See also:writing, See also:arithmetic, French, German and drawing. At the age of fourteen they are at See also:liberty to choose any of the following arts; first, painting in all its branches, architecture, See also:mosaic, enamelling, &c.; second, See also:engraving on See also:copper-plates, See also:seal-cutting, &c.; third, See also:carving on See also:wood, See also:ivory and See also:amber; See also:fourth,See also:watch-making, turning, See also:instrument-making, casting statues in See also:bronze and other metals, imitating gems and medals in See also:paste and other compositions, See also:gilding and varnishing. Prizes are annually distributed, and from those who have obtained four prizes, twelve are selected, who are sent abroad at the charge of the crown. A certain sum is paid to defray their travelling expenses; and when they are settled in any town, they receive during four years an annual salary of £6o.. The academy has a small gallery of paintings for the use of the scholars; and those who have made great progress are.permitted to copy the pictures in the imperial collection. For the purpose of See also:design, there are full-See also:size models of the best See also:antique statues in Italy.
See also:South America.—There are several small academies in the various towns of South America, the only one of note being that of Rio de Janeiro, founded by John VI. of Portugal in 1816 and now known as the Escola National de Bellas Artes.
Spain.—In Madrid an academy for painting, sculpture and architecture, the Academia de Bellas Artes de See also:San Fernando, was founded by See also: Sweden.—An academy of the fine arts was founded at Stock-holm in the year 1733 by Count See also:Tessin. In its hall are the ancient figures of plaster presented by Louis XIV. to Charles XI. The works of the students are publicly exhibited, and prizes are distributed annually. Such of them as display distinguished ability obtain pensions from government, to enable them to reside in Italy for some years, for the purposes of investigation and improvement. In this academy there are nine professors and generally about four hundred students. Austria: In the year 1705 an academy of painting, sculpture and architecture was established at Vienna, with the view of encouraging and promoting the fine arts. United States of America.—In America the institution similar to the Royal Academy of Arts in London is the National Academy of Design (1826), which in 1006 absorbed the Society of American Artists, the members of the society becoming members of the academy. The volume of excerpts from the general catalogue of books in the British Museum, "Academies," 5 parts and See also:index, furnishes a complete bibliography. (F. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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