ABSTRACT
Little has been written about the Accademia della Virtù (Academy of Virtue), which appears to have been active in Rome from around 1535 to the early 1540s. Originally known as the Accademia dei Vignaiuoli (Academy of Winemakers), it is still unclear whether this sodalitas was chief ly a drinking and dining circle of literati who gave extravagant after-dinner speeches and wrote work of a ‘frivolous’ nature, or whether it should be regarded as a sort of Roman ‘Liceo’ characterized by an antiquarian culture and by the lectura Vitruvi.1 The few existing documents on the academy suggest it was both, although around 1538 — at the time of its most recognized activity — it is mainly identified as the former and known as Reame della Virtù (Kingdom of Virtue).2 Afterwards, it appears to have taken the name of Accademia della Poesia Nuova (Academy of New Poetry) or Accademia dello Sdegno (Academy of Indignation).3
