The Prix de Rome (in French pronounced as /pʁi də ʁɔm/) or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was 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.[1]
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.[2] 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 architects[3] 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),[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.
The Prix de Rome for Architecture was created in 1720.
| Year | Premier Prix | Deuxième Prix | Troisieme Prix | Competition project | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1720 | An entry to a Doric palace | ||||
| 1721 | Guillot-Aubry | Jean Pinard | A plan of a church measuring 20 toises [40 metres] square | ||
| 1722 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux | A temple to peace | ||
| 1750 | Julien-David Le Roy | Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux | Charles De Wailly | An orange garden | |
| 1751 | Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux | Pierre-Louis Helin | A public fountain | ||
| 1752 | Pierre-Louis Helin | Moreau | A façade of a palace | ||
| 1753 | 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 | 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 | Boucher | Antoine-François Peyre | A concert hall | ||
| 1762 | Adrien Mouton | A covered market | |||
| 1763 | Boucher | Louis-François Petit-Radel | A triumphal arch | ||
| 1764 | Adrien Mouton | Pierre d'Orléans | Naudin | A school | |
| 1765 | Boucu | Paris | A dome of a cathedral | ||
| 1766 | 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 | Paris | A theater | ||
| 1769 | Jacob Guerne | Lussault | Paris | A public festival for a prince | |
| 1770 | 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 | Moitte | – | A cathedral | ||
| 1782 | Cathala | – | A courthouse | ||
| 1783 | Charles Percier | – | A menagerie | ||
| 1784 | Moreau | – | A lazaret | ||
| 1785 | – | A funeral chapel | |||
| 1786 | 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 | – | 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 | – | An institute of sciences and arts or a national school of fine arts | ||
| Year | Premier Prix | Deuxième Prix | Troisieme Prix/ Honorable Mention | Competition project | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Dedeban | A forum | |||
| 1802 | Bury | A trade fair with exhibition pavilion for industrial products | |||
| 1803 | A maritime port | ||||
| 1804 | A palace of a sovereign | ||||
| 1805 | Huyot | Six houses for six families | |||
| 1806 | A palace for a legion of honor | ||||
| 1807 | Giroust | A palace for the education of princes | |||
| 1808 | François-Auguste Jolly | Public baths for Paris | |||
| 1809 | Grillon | A cathedral | |||
| 1810 | An exchange for a coastal city | ||||
| 1811 | Renié | A palace for a university | |||
| 1812 | Baron | Poisson | A private hospital | ||
| 1813 | Fedel and Landon | A city hall | |||
| 1814 | Charles Henri Landon and Louis Destouches, ex-aequo | Vauchelet | A museum and library | ||
| 1815 | Pierre Anne Dedreux | Louis-Julien-Alexandre Vincent | A technical college | ||
| 1816 | A palace for the Institut [de France] | ||||
| 1817 | A musical conservatory | ||||
| 1818 | No first prize awarded | Desplans (mentioned) | A public promenade | ||
| 1819 | Félix-Emmanuel Callet and Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, ex-aequo | François Villain | A cemetery | ||
| 1820 | A medical school | ||||
| 1821 | A courthouse | ||||
| 1822 | Fontaine and Jules Bouchet | An opera house | |||
| 1823 | A customs house | ||||
| 1824 | Lépreux et Léon Vaudoyer | Augustin Burdet | A court of cassation | ||
| 1825 | Dommey | A city hall | |||
| 1826 | Marie Antoine Delannoy | Dommey | A palace for the Academy [of architecture] of France in Rome | ||
| 1827 | A natural history museum | ||||
| 1828 | Bourguignon | Abric | A public library | ||
| 1829 | Pierre-Joseph Garrez | A lazaret | |||
| 1830 | A house of entertainment for a prince | ||||
| 1831 | A establishment for thermal waters | ||||
| 1832 | A museum | ||||
| 1833 | Chargrasse | A military academy | |||
| 1834 | An Atheneum | ||||
| 1835 | A medical school | ||||
| 1836 | A hall for the exhibition of works of art and industrial products | ||||
| 1837 | Antoine-Julien Hénard and Jules Duru | A Pantheon | |||
| 1838 | A cathedral church | ||||
| 1839 | François-Marie Péron | A Town Hall | |||
| 1840 | Philippe-Auguste Titeux | A palace of the House of Lords | |||
| 1841 | Jacques-Martin Tétaz | An overseas French ambassadorial palace | |||
| 1842 | Prosper Desbuisson and Louis-Etienne Lebelin | Albert-François-Germain Delaage | A palace of the archives | ||
| 1843 | A palace of the Institute | ||||
| 1844 | A palace for the French Academy | ||||
| 1845 | A cathedral church | ||||
| 1846 | A Natural History museum | ||||
| 1847 | A palace for the Chamber of Deputies | ||||
| 1848 | A Conservatory for Arts and Crafts | ||||
| 1849 | A school of Fine Arts | ||||
| 1850 | Edouard-Auguste Villain | A large public square | |||
| 1851 | A hospice in the Alps | ||||
| 1852 | Louis-François Douillard the elder and Michel Douillard the younger | A Gymnasium | |||
| 1853 | A museum for a capital city | ||||
| 1854 | Paul Émile Bonnet and Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer jointly | François-Philippe Boitte | A monument dedicated to the burial of the sovereign of a great empire | ||
| 1855 | Edmond-Jean-Baptiste Guillaume and Joseph-Eugène Heim the younger | Conservatory of Music and Declamation | |||
| 1856 | Palace of the Ambassador at Constantinople | ||||
| 1857 | A Faculty of Medicine | ||||
| 1858 | Imperial Hotel for Naval invalids | ||||
| 1859 | Charles Thierry and Louis Boitte jointly | A Court of Cassation | |||
| 1860 | Bénard | An Imperial Residence at Nice | |||
| 1861 | François-Wilbrod Chabrol | An establishment for thermal waters | |||
| 1862 | A palace for the Governor of Algeria | ||||
| 1863 | A main staircase | ||||
| 1864 | Julien Guadet and Arthur Dutert jointly | A hospice in the Alps | |||
| 1865 | Louis Noguet and Gustave Gerhardt jointly | A hostel for travellers | |||
| 1866 | A banking house | ||||
| 1867 | An exhibition of Fine Art | ||||
| 1868 | A calvary | ||||
| 1869 | A French Embassy | ||||
| 1870 | A Medical School | ||||
| 1871 | A Palace of Representatives | ||||
| 1872 | A Natural History Museum | ||||
| 1873 | A water tower | ||||
| 1874 | A Palace of Faculties | ||||
| 1875 | A Palace of Justice for Paris | ||||
| 1876 | A Palace of Arts | ||||
| 1877 | An Atheneum for a capital city | ||||
| 1878 | A cathedral church | ||||
| 1879 | A Conservatory | ||||
| 1880 | A hospice for sick children on the Mediterranean | ||||
| 1881 | A Palace of Fine Art | ||||
| 1882 | A Palace for the Council of State | ||||
| 1883 | A necropolis | ||||
| 1884 | A thermal establishment | ||||
| 1885 | A Medical Academy | ||||
| 1886 | A Palace for the Court of Auditors | ||||
| 1887 | A gymnasium | ||||
| 1888 | A Parliamentary Palace | ||||
| 1889 | Constant-Désiré Despradelle | Demerlé | A casino by the sea | ||
| 1890 | A monument to Joan of Arc | ||||
| 1891 | A central railway station | ||||
| 1892 | An Artillery Museum | ||||
| 1893 | A Palace for Academics | ||||
| 1894 | A central School of Arts and Manufacture in the capital of a large country | ||||
| 1895 | An Exhibition Palace | ||||
| 1896 | A Naval School | ||||
| 1897 | A votive church | ||||
| 1898 | A palace | ||||
| 1899 | Henri Sirot | A central bank building | |||
| 1900 | Thermal baths and a casino |
| Year | Premier Prix | Deuxième Prix | Troisieme Prix/ Honorable Mention | Competition project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Jean Hulot | An American Academy | ||
| 1902 | Eugène Chifflot | A national print house | ||
| 1903 | Jean Wielhorski and Henri Joulie | A public square | ||
| 1904 | Pierre Leprince-Ringuet | A carpet manufactory | ||
| 1905 | A water tower | |||
| 1906 | A French college | |||
| 1907 | An observatory and scientific station | |||
| 1908 | Charles Louis Boussois | |||
| 1909 | A colonial palace | |||
| 1910 | Georges-Fernand Janin | A sanatorium on the Mediterranean coast | ||
| 1911 | A monument to the glory of the independence of a large country | |||
| 1912 | A casino in a spa town | |||
| 1913 | Roger Séassal | Gaston Castel | ||
| 1914 | Albert Ferran | A military college | ||
| 1919 | Eugène-Alexandre Girardin and Louis Sollier ; André Jacob | A palace for the League of Nations at Geneva | ||
| 1920 | Michel Roux-Spitz | Marc Brillaud de Laujardière | ||
| 1921 | Maurice Mantout | A manufactory of tapestries and art fabrics | ||
| 1922 | Robert Giroud | A large Military development college | ||
| 1923 | Georges Feray | The residence of the French ambassador in Marocco | ||
| 1924 | Marcel Péchin | An institute of general botany | ||
| 1925 | Alfred Audoul | Marcel Chappey | A National School of Applied Arts | |
| 1926 | Jean-Baptiste Hourlier | A summer residence for a Chief of State | ||
| 1927 | An Institute of Archaeology and Art | |||
| 1928 | Gaston Glorieux and Roger Hummel | An embassy in a large Far Eastern country | ||
| 1929 | Germain Grange and André Hilt | A palace for the Institute of France | ||
| 1930 | Achille Carlier | Noël Le Maresquier and Alexandre Courtois | A college of fine arts | |
| 1931 | Georges Bovet | A French intellectual centre of propaganda abroad | ||
| 1932 | Camille Montagné | André Aubert and Robert Pommier | A summer residence in the mountains | |
| 1933 | Robert Camelot and Charles-Gustave Stoskopf | A church of pilgrimage | ||
| 1934 | André Hilt | Georges Letélié and Pierre-Jean Guth | A permanent exhibition of contemporary art | |
| 1935 | Paul Domenc | An institute of intellectual cooperation | ||
| 1936 | Georges Noël and Pierre Lablaude | A naval museum | ||
| 1937 | A French Pantheon | |||
| 1938 | Pierre Dufau and Gonthier | A sports organisation centre | ||
| 1939 | Sachs and Sergent | A palace of the French colonial empire | ||
| 1942 (?) | Raymond Gleize | |||
| 1943 | André Chatelin and Jean Dubuisson | |||
| 1944 | Claude Béraud | Henry Pottier | ||
| 1945 | Jean Dubuisson and Jean de Mailly jointly | Palace for the Court of Justice | ||
| 1946 | Grand Foyer of the crews of the Fleet | |||
| 1947 | Jacques Cordonnier | Paul La Mache | Ministry of Arts | |
| 1948 | Yves Moignet | |||
| 1949 | Paul Vimond | A French college | ||
| 1950 | A Mediterranean university | |||
| 1951 | Bergerioux and Marriage | A conference and congress centre | ||
| 1952 | Louis Blanchet | Pierre-André Dufétel and Levard | Communal home of a large city | |
| 1953 | Olivier-Clément Cacoub | Chaudonneret and Bourdon | Mount of Martyrs | |
| 1954 | Marty and Chauvin | A centre of African Research in Kano | ||
| 1955 | Pouradier Duteil and Maréchal | A votive sanctuary | ||
| 1956 | Serge Menil | An Acropolis | ||
| 1957 | Jean-Marie Brasilier | Delb and Robert | A Palace of Natural Science | |
| 1958 | Gérard Carton | Claude Bach and Menart | A Pantheon for Europe | |
| 1959 | Gérard Carton | Tournier and Hardy | An international conference centre for drama and opera | |
| 1960 | Jean-Claude Bernard | Doucet and Cacaut | Business centre of large capital city | |
| 1961 | Jacques Labro | A monastery | ||
| 1962 | Jean-Loup Roubert and Christian Cacault | |||
| 1963 | Jean-Louis Girodet | Jacques Lallemand | A marine institute | |
| 1964 | Bernard Schoebel | An artificial island with arts centre and water sports | ||
| 1965 | Jean-Pierre Poncabaré | A foundation for the study of modern architecture | ||
| 1967 | Michel Longuet and Aymeric Zublena | (last award) | A house for Europe in the event of a transformation of the center of Paris | |
The engraving prize was created in 1804.
The required composition was originally a cantata for solo voice and orchestra; later one male and female voice were specified; and later still three voices. Titles of the pieces have generally been restricted to "cantata", "lyric scene" or "dramatic scene".[7]
See main article: Prix de Rome (Netherlands).
A Prix de Rome was also established in the Kingdom of Holland by Lodewijk Napoleon to award young artists and architects. During the years 1807–1810 prize winners were sent to Paris and onwards to Rome for study. In 1817, after the Netherlands had gained its independence, King Willem I restarted the prize; though it took until 1823 before the new "Royal Academies" of Amsterdam and Antwerp could organize the juries. Suspended in 1851 it was reinstated in 1870 by William III of the Netherlands. Since then the winners have been selected by the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam under the main headings of architecture and the visual arts.
See main article: Prix de Rome (Belgium).
The Belgian Prix de Rome (Dutch: Prijs van Rome) is an award for young artists, created in 1832, following the example of the original French Prix de Rome. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp organised the prize until 1920, when the national government took over. The first prize is also sometimes called the Grand Prix de Rome. There were distinct categories for architecture, painting, sculpture and music.