The Accademia degli Infiammati ("Academy of the Burning Ones") was a short-lived but influential

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was founded in 1540 by Leone Orsini, and was dissolved somewhere between 1545 and 1550. This academy should not be confused with another Accademia degli Infiammati which was established at

Forlimpopoli Forlimpopoli (; rgn, Frampùl) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Forlì-Cesena, north-eastern Italy. It is located on the Via Emilia between Cesena and Forlì. History The name of Forlimpopoli derives from the Roman ''Forum Popilii'', ...

in 1624 by Dominican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

Giovanni della Robbia 250px, ''Saint Sebastian'', Musée du Louvre, Paris. Giovanni della Robbia (1469–1529) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, mostly in ceramics. Biography Giovanni della Robbia was the son of Andrea della Robbia (1435–1525), brother of Gir ...

. The Paduan Academy's emblem featured

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

on fire on Mount Oite, with the motto ''Arso il mortale al ciel n’andrà l’eterno'' ("Burned being the Mortal, to Heaven will Ascend the Eternal"). Notable members and collaborators were Sperone Speroni,

Benedetto Varchi Benedetto Varchi (; 1502/15031565) was an Italian humanist, historian, and poet. Biography Born in Florence to a family that had originated at Montevarchi, he frequented the neoplatonic academy that Bernardo Rucellai organized in his garden, th ...

, Pietro Aretino, Girolamo Preti

Luigi Alamanni Luigi Alamanni (sometimes spelt Alemanni) (6 March 149518 April 1556) was an Italian poet and statesman. He was regarded as a prolific and versatile poet. He was credited with introducing the epigram into Italian poetry. Biography Alamanni was ...

Ugolino Martelli Ugolino Martelli (1860–1934) was an Italian botanist, biologist, and mycologist. Martelli is known for his studies of and contributions to the systematics of the tropical genus ''Pandanus'' and his taxonomic definition of the flora of Sardinia. ...

, Alessandro Piccolomini, and Angelo Beolco (el Ruzante). Some of the Academy's activities were conducted in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

. However, the vulgar

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

and Tuscan languages became prevalent after Speroni, a staunch defender of the vernacular, presided over the academy in 1542. In this period the Academy promoted lectures (''Lezioni'') on vernacular poetry, such as on Bembo's

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

s ''Piansi e cantai l'aspra guerra'' and ''Verdeggi all'Apennin la fronte, e 'l petto'', by Martelli, and on Forteguerri's sonnet ''Ora ten va superbo, or corre altero'', by Piccolomini. In 1540, Giovanni Mazzuoli da Strada founded at his home in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

the Accademia degli Umidi ("Academy of the Wet Ones").Treccani.it
/ref> Originally meant to be just a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the newly created Paduan Academy, devoted to amateur and burlesque activities, it eventually became the respectable and prestigious

Accademia Fiorentina The Accademia Fiorentina was a philosophical and literary academy in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. History The Accademia Fiorentina was founded in Florence on 1 November 1540 as the Accademia degli Umidi, or "academy of the wet ones ...

References

1540 establishments in Italy Philosophical schools and traditions Renaissance philosophy Italian writers' organisations {{philo-org-stub