Biographical dictionary of the French Academy in Rome’s Fellows
The online biographical dictionary of the French Academy in Rome’s Fellows
Edited by Annie and Gabriel Verger, the “Dictionnaire biographique des pensionnaires de l’Académie de France à Rome” (Biographical Dictionary of the Fellowsof the French Academy in Rome) is essentially a census of the group of practitioners sent to Italy by the State, from Louis XIV in 1666 until the abolition of the “Prix de Rome” competition in 1968. Since the recruitment of Fellows did not cease after that date, despite changes in political regimes, aesthetic theories, and production conditions, the institution celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2016. This continuity is at the very heart of the study undertaken over the past several years.
The dictionary, published in a first version in May 2011 by the publishing house L’Échelle de Jacob in Dijon, is of new interest thanks to its online publication by the ARTL@S group (www.artlas.ens.fr). The individual records of the Fellows, which can be consulted online, offer biographical and professional information (places of birth and death, studies, “Envois de Rome”, professions, awards and honors, etc.). The online access also allows specialists in the various historical sequences to point out omissions, errors or to provide details that will enrich the whole. Links have been established with institutions holding first-hand documents (Archives of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts; portraits of the boarders of the French Academy in Rome; “Envois de Rome” collected by members of the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art). These links provide researchers with an indispensable scientific tool.
The population of Fellows at the French Academy in Rome is analyzed from a socio-historical point of view by Annie Verger in the following article: “Rome is Worth a Price. An Artistic Elite in the Service of the State: the Pensionnaires of the Académie de France in Rome, 1666-1968.” Artl@s Bulletin 8, 2 (Summer 2019) – see https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/artlas/.