THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY

The 18th century Academic Library, still has the original shelving, preserves rare books on humanistic, scientific, religious and technical culture; there are also resources from the 18th century, like the symbolic Encyclopédie that in its livornese version was promoted in Cortona by Filippo Venuti, one of the founding members and promoter of the Accademia Etrusca.

The crest, placed above the fireplace, is that of the Accademia Etrusca: its symbology is clear: Apollo’s tripod through which the Greek god provided an answer too the most obscure of questions associated with a motto drawn from Lucretius, obscura de re lucida pango (From darkness I create light) and a snake, the symbol of inspiring wisdom, wrapped around it; the star is reminiscent of Electra, a lover of Jupiter that the latter turned into one of the Pleiades; Electra was the daughter of Atlas, the wife of mythical Coritus, king of Cortona, and mother of Dardanus founder of Troy; the crest is topped by a battlemented crown symbolizing the town of Cortona. These symbols strongly associate the Accademia to the town and the cultural mission envisaged by the founders.

THE TEMPIETTO GINORI ROOM

The so called Tempietto Ginori stands in the center of the room and is one of the most valuable and peculiar objects of the Museum. The porcelain temple was manufactured at the Doccia porcelain factory, it was donated to the Accademia in 1756 by marquis Carlo Ginori on the occasion of its appointment to lucumo and is an allegory of the Medici succession and the passing under the Lorraine rule.

The numismatic collection of the Accademia Etrusca can be found under the fresco of the Annunciation, made by Salvi Castellucci in 1633.

In the same room can be found the academic collection of gems, goldsmithery, plaster and sulphur casts dating back to the 18th or 19th century.

The frescoed crests belong to the families Della Rena and Marzi-Medici and were respectively painted in 1956 and 1661.