French artists in Eternal City.

Two hundred years ago the Academic de France a Rome (French Academy in Rome), which had been founded by Louis XIV in 1666, moved into the Villa Medici above the Spanish Steps on the Pincian Hill, where it remains today. The aims of the academy have been modified over the years, but in the nineteenth century it functioned as a center for French artists who had won the prestigious Prix de Rome (Rome Prize). They were awarded a stipend so they could live in the Renaissance Villa Medici while studying classical and Renaissance art for up to five years.

An exhibition that chronicles the paintings, drawings, and sculptures created by French artists who worked in the academy between 1803 and 1873 is on view at the Dahesh Museum of Art, which has just moved to 580 Madison Avenue in New York City. Since the mission of the museum is to collect and exhibit the work of academically trained European artists, it could not be a more appropriate institution to hold this exhibition, which runs from September 3 to November 2. The show is entitled French Artists in Rome: Ingres to Degas, 1803-1873, and comprises 130 works produced during this fertile period.

Rome in the nineteenth century was a mecca for painters, sculptors, architects, printmakers, writers, and composers from all over the world. Among the most notable of the numerous American artists who painted in Rome during these years are: Allston, Church, Cole, Heade, Cropsey, Inness, Bierstadt, and Sanford R. Gifford (who painted a view of the city from the grounds of the Villa Medici in 1865). While only the French were allowed to live in the villa, a community of artists soon grew up around this part of the city. The curriculum at the academy was traditional, and resident students, or pensionnaires, as they were called, were expected to exhibit one work annually, first in Rome and then in Paris. The year 1803 marked a turning point for the academy, not only because it moved to its present site, but also because it had ...