The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them to stay in Rome for three to five years at the expense of the state. The prize was extended to architecture in 1720, music in 1803 and engraving in 1804. The prestigious award was abolished in 1968 by André Malraux, then Minister of Culture, following the May 68 riots that called for cultural change.
History The Prix de Rome was initially created for painters and sculptors in 1663 in France, during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by completing a very difficult elimination contest. To succeed, a student had to create a sketch on an assigned topic while isolated in a closed booth with no reference material to draw on. The prize, organised 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. In 1720, the Académie Royale d’Architecture began a prize in architecture. Six painters, four sculptors, and two architectsLee, S. "Prix de Rome", Grove Dictionary of Art online would be sent to the French Academy in Rome founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert from 1666.
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),Clarke, Michael. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, Oxford University Press, 2001 and the "Second Prizes" were awarded to the runners-up.
In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte moved the French Academy in Rome to the Villa Medici, with the intention of preserving an institution once threatened by the French Revolution. At first, the villa and its gardens were in a sad state, and they had to be renovated in order to house the winners of the Prix de Rome. In this way, he hoped to retain for young French artists the opportunity to see and copy the masterpieces of antiquity and the Renaissance.
Jacques-Louis David, having failed to win the prize three years in a row, considered suicide. 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 Paris Conservatory.
During World War II (1939–45), the prize winners were accommodated in the Villa Paradiso in Nice. The Prix de Rome was abolished 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 Institut 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.
The heyday of the Prix de Rome was during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.Lee, ibid It was later imitated by the Prix Abd-el-Tif and the Villa Abd-el-Tif in Algiers, 1907–1961, and later Prix d'Indochine including a bursary to visit the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi, 1920–1939, and bursary for residence at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, 1929–present.
Winners in the Architecture category The Prix de Rome for Architecture was created in 1720.
18th century (architecture) Year Premier Prix Deuxième Prix Troisieme Prix Competition project 1720 Antoine Deriset An entry to a Doric palace 1721 Philippe Buache Guillot-Aubry Jean Pinard A plan of a church measuring 20 toises [40 metres] square 1722 Jean-Michel Chevotet Jolivet A triumphal arch 1723 Jean Pinard Pierre Mouret A mansion for a great nobleman 1724 Jean-Pierre Le Tailleur de Boncourt Pierre-Étienne Le Bon A high altar for a cathedral 1725 Pierre-Étienne Le Bon Clairet A convent church 1726 François Carlier Aufrane Clairet A portal of a church 1727 François Gallot Joseph Eustache de Bourge Pierre Mouret A mansion for a great nobleman 1728 Antoine-Victor Desmarais Joseph Eustache de Bourge Quéau A chateau for a great nobleman 1729 Joseph Eustache de Bourge Devillard Quéau A cathedral 1730 Claude-Louis d'Aviler Pierre Laurent de Devilliard A triumphal arch 1731 Jean-Baptiste Marteau Pierre Rousset Courtillié A building 25 toises [50 metres] across 1732 Jean-Laurent Le Geay de Mercy Pierre Rousset A portal of a church 1733 Jacques Haneuse Bailleul Jean-Baptiste Courtonne A public square 1734 Vattebled Pierre Laurent Lafond A high altar of a church 1735 Pierre Laurent Jean-Louis Pollevert Lindet A gallery with a chapel 1736 Jean-Louis Pollevert Maximilien Brébion Gabriel Pierre Martin Dumont A country house 1737 Gabriel Pierre Martin Dumont Lindet Datif Two staircases and a vestibule of a palace 1738 Nicolas Marie Potain Lancret Jean-Baptiste Courtonne A gallery with a chapel 1739 Nicolas Dorbay Maximilien Brébion Lecamus A great stable for a royal chateau 1740 Maximilien Brébion Cordier de Dreux A garden 400 toises [800 metres] long 1741 Nicolas-Henri Jardin Armand Bourdet A choir of a cathedral 1742 Armand Lecamus Bourdet A façade of a city hall 1743 Jean Moreau Cordier Brébion A garden 400 toises [800 metres] long 1744 No prize awarded, due to the low quality of entries 1745 Ennemond Alexandre Petitot Hazon (recorded as "Hazin") Deveau and Lelu A lighthouse 1746 Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Brébion J., ex-aequo Lelu and Nicolas de Pigage Turgis A mansion for a great nobleman 1747 Jérôme Charles Bellicard Giroux Lieutaut A triumphal arch 1748 Parvis Lelu Duvivier An exchange 1749 François Dominique Barreau de Chefdeville Julien-David Le Roy Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux A temple to peace 1750 Julien-David Le Roy Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux Charles De Wailly An orange garden 1751 Marie-Joseph Peyre Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux Pierre-Louis Helin A public fountain 1752 Charles De Wailly Pierre-Louis Helin Moreau A façade of a palace 1753 Louis-François Trouard Jardin A gallery 50 toises [100 metres] long 1754 Pierre-Louis Helin Billaudet Jardin An art salon 1755 Victor Louis et Charles Maréchaux, ex-aequo Boucart Rousseau A funereal chapel 1756 Henri-Antoine Lemaire Houdon An isolated chapel 1757 Competition canceled A concert hall 1758 Mathurin Cherpitel and Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin, ex-aequo Jacques Gondouin and Claude Jean-Baptiste Jallier de Savault Houdon and Gérendo A pavilion at the corner of a terrace 1759 Antoine Le Roy Joseph Elie Michel Lefebvre Cauchois and Jacques Gondouin A horse-riding school 1760 Joseph Elie Michel Lefebvre Claude Jean-Baptiste Jallier de Savault Gabriel A parish church 1761 Antoine-Joseph de Bourge Boucher Antoine-François Peyre A concert hall 1762 Antoine-François Peyre Pierre d'Orléans Adrien Mouton A covered market 1763 Charles François Darnaudin Boucher Louis-François Petit-Radel A triumphal arch 1764 Adrien Mouton Pierre d'Orléans Naudin A school 1765 Jean-François Heurtier Boucu Paris A dome of a cathedral 1766 Jean-Arnaud Raymond Pierre d'Orléans Paris A portal of a cathedral 1767 Pierre d'Orléans Le Moyne Marquis A customs house 1768 Jean-Philippe Lemoine de Couzon Bernard Poyet Paris A theater 1769 Jacob Guerne Lussault Paris A public festival for a prince 1770 Jean-Jacques Huvé Renard Panseron An arsenal 1771 Not awarded A city hospital 1772 Claude-Thomas de Lussault and Jean-Auguste Marquis Renard Nicolas-Claude Girardin A palace for the parent of a sovereign 1773 Jean Augustin Renard Mathurin Crucy and Coutouly Thierry and Herbelot A pavilion for a sovereign 1774 Mathurin Crucy Bonnet Charles Joachim Bénard, Mineral baths 1775 Paul Guillaume Le Moine le Roman Louis-Étienne de Seine Doucet Schools of medicine 1776 Louis-Jean Desprez Charles Joachim Bénard – A chateau for a great nobleman 1777 Louis-Étienne de Seine Guy de Gisors – A water tower 1778 First and second prizes carried over to 1779 – Public prisons 1779 Guy de Gisors and Père François Jacques Lannoy Durand and Barbier – An art museum 1780 Louis Alexandre Trouard Durand – A school on a triangular plot 1781 Louis Combes Moitte – A cathedral 1782 Pierre Bernard Cathala – A courthouse 1783 Antoine Vaudoyer Charles Percier – A menagerie 1784 Auguste Cheval de Saint-Hubert Moreau – A lazaret 1785 Jean-Charles Alexandre Moreau Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine – A funeral chapel 1786 Charles Percier Louis-Robert Goust – A meeting house for all the Académies 1787 First and second prizes carried over to 1788 – A city hall 1788 Jacques-Charles Bonnard and Jean Jacques Tardieu, ex-aequo Louis-Robert Goust and Romain – A public treasury 1789 Jean-Baptiste Louis François Le Febvre Gaucher – A school of medicine 1790 No competition 1791 Claude-Mathieu Delagardette Normand – A gallery of a palace 1792 Pierre-Charles-Joseph Normand Bergognion – A public market for a great city 1793 No first prize awarded Constant Protain – A barracks 1794 No competition 1795 1796 1797 Louis Ambroise Dubut and Cousin, ex-aequo Éloi Labarre and Maximilien Joseph Hurtault – Public granaries 1798 Joseph Clémence Joseph Pompon – A maritime exchange 1799 Louis-Sylvestre Gasse and Auguste Henri Victor Grandjean de Montigny, ex-aequo Jean-Baptiste Guignet – A cemetery 500 meters long 1800 Simon Vallot and Jean-François-Julien Mesnager, ex-aequo Jean-Baptiste Dedeban and Hubert Rohault – An institute of sciences and arts or a national school of fine arts
Notes
19th century (architecture)