Accademia di San Luca

History

The Academy's predecessor was the Compagnia di San Luca, a guild of painters and miniaturists, which met in the demolished church of S. Luca all'Esquilino, near Santa Maria Maggiore, and whose statutes and privileges were renewed 17 December 1478 by Pope Sixtus IV. Among the founding members was the famous painter Melozzo da Forlì, as he was the pictor papalis.

Through the initiative of Girolamo Muziano, who was both one of the leading artists in Rome and superintendent of works for Pope Gregory XIII, the Pope granted the Academy official recognition in 1577. In 1588 Pope Sixtus V gave the institution the ancient church of S. Martina, which was rededicated as Santi Luca e Martina.

In 1605, Pope Paul V granted the Academy the right to pardon a condemned man on the feast of St. Luke. As early as 1607, members were encouraged to increase their donations to the library. In the 1620s, Urban VIII extended its rights to decide who was considered an artist in Rome, and in 1627 it came under the patronage of his nephew, Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Like many academies it was traditional to submit a self-portrait – the collection serving as a record of the institution's illustrious membership. In 1633, Urban VIII gave it the right to tax all artists as well as art-dealers, and monopolize all public commissions. These latter measures raised strong opposition and apparently were poorly enforced.

At some after 1634, during the time when Pietro da Cortona was principe, the accademia began to admit architects, who enjoyed the same status as painters and sculptors. The Academy offered courses in painting, sculpture and architecture. Competitions open to artists and architects of all nationalities under 25 years old, the Concorsi Clementini, were held annually until 1721, when they became triennial. In 1763 these were supplemented by the Concorsi Balestra, and thereafter the two competitions alternated biennially.

In 1845, the Academy expanded to the Palazzo Camerale on the Via di Ripetta in order to have the art students in one location. This later became the Liceo Artistico Ripetta. …