Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a sacred scholarship for art
students. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, during 1663 in
France under the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual scholarship that
usually was for helping out the impoverished but deserving artist. It is also called
a bursary. The Prix de Rome was for promising artists. Each had to go through a
gruiling elimination contest. The prize, organized
by the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture),
was open to their students. From 1666, the award winner could win a stay of three to five years at the Palazzo Mancini
in Rome at the expense of the King of France. It expanded after 140 years into five
categories.The contest started in 1663 as two categories: painting and sculpture.
Architecture was added in 1720. In 1803, music was added, and after 1804 there was a prix for engraving as well.
The primary winner took the "First Grand Prize" (called the agréé) and the "Second Prizes" were awarded to the runner-ups.
In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte moved the French Academy in Rome
to the Villa Medici with the intention of preserving an institution which was once
threatened by the French Revolution. The villas had to be renovated in order to house the
winners of the Prix de Rome. The Prix de Rome was so prized that one composer, Jacques-Louis David,
considered suicide after having failed to win the
prize three years in a row. Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Ernest Chausson and
Maurice Ravel attempted the Prix de Rome, but did not gain recognition. Ravel tried a total of five times to win the prize,
and the last failed attempt in 1905 was so controversial that it led to a
complete reorganization of the administration at the famed Paris Conservatory.
The Prix de Rome was suppressed in 1968 by André Malraux, who was Minister of Culture at the time. Since then, a number of contests have been created, and the academies, together with the Institute de France, were merged by the
State and the Minister of Culture. Selected residents now have an
opportunity for study during an 18-month (sometimes 2-year) stay at The
Academy of France in Rome, which is accommodated in the Villa
Medici.
students. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, during 1663 in
France under the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual scholarship that
usually was for helping out the impoverished but deserving artist. It is also called
a bursary. The Prix de Rome was for promising artists. Each had to go through a
gruiling elimination contest. The prize, organized
by the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture),
was open to their students. From 1666, the award winner could win a stay of three to five years at the Palazzo Mancini
in Rome at the expense of the King of France. It expanded after 140 years into five
categories.The contest started in 1663 as two categories: painting and sculpture.
Architecture was added in 1720. In 1803, music was added, and after 1804 there was a prix for engraving as well.
The primary winner took the "First Grand Prize" (called the agréé) and the "Second Prizes" were awarded to the runner-ups.
In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte moved the French Academy in Rome
to the Villa Medici with the intention of preserving an institution which was once
threatened by the French Revolution. The villas had to be renovated in order to house the
winners of the Prix de Rome. The Prix de Rome was so prized that one composer, Jacques-Louis David,
considered suicide after having failed to win the
prize three years in a row. Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Ernest Chausson and
Maurice Ravel attempted the Prix de Rome, but did not gain recognition. Ravel tried a total of five times to win the prize,
and the last failed attempt in 1905 was so controversial that it led to a
complete reorganization of the administration at the famed Paris Conservatory.
The Prix de Rome was suppressed in 1968 by André Malraux, who was Minister of Culture at the time. Since then, a number of contests have been created, and the academies, together with the Institute de France, were merged by the
State and the Minister of Culture. Selected residents now have an
opportunity for study during an 18-month (sometimes 2-year) stay at The
Academy of France in Rome, which is accommodated in the Villa
Medici.