The Villa Medici
Welcome to Villa Medici, seat of the French Academy in Rome. This outstanding
historic building has been a French property since 1803, when Napoleon
Bonaparte acquired it from the family who gave it its name. It is under the
supervision of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Cardinal Ferdinand of Medici (1551-1609) is responsible for most of its present
character. In 1576, he put the Florentine architect Bartolomeo Ammannati in
charge of the extension of the country pavilion he had bought from Cardinal
Ricci s heirs, in order to transform it into a palace able to show to the Romans his
greatness and his ambitions, on the location of the legendary Luculus villa. The
mannerist painter Jacopo Zucchi carried out the inner decorations while
Ammannati adorned the fa�ade looking onto the garden with an extraordinary
collection of ancient bas-relief. The works lasted until 1587, when the Cardinal left
Rome to become Grand-Duke of Tuscany.
The Cardinal also created vast gardens. Their 16th century line is still preserved,
remaining nonetheless a lively place. It gracefully carries the signs of the posterior
periods, with the pine trees planted in the 19th century or some squares and flower
beds transformations in the second half of the 20th century. The charm of this park
and the views it arranges on Rome made it a source of inspiration for the greatest
artists such as Velasquez, Ingres and Corot.
The gardens, The Bosco, the terrace
The Villa Medici s gardens stretch on almost seven hectares. In front of the loggia,
the central piece of the gardens is a vast esplanade divided between the Piazzale
and plant patterns surrounding the fountain and the obelisk. We reach the Bosco
and the terrace by lateral stairs where it is possible to enjoy a most beautiful view
on Rome. In the Bosco, where Messalina was murdered, Ferdinand of Medici had
a belvedere built on the location of a Roman temple of Fortune. Since 2008, the
gardens are open everyday to the public, through guided tours.
The French Academy in Rome
The French Academy in Rome was founded by Louis XIV s minister, Colbert, the
11th of February 1666. Colbert s statue appears in the garden, while the one
representing Louis XIV, executed by Domenico Guidi decorates the grand
staircase. Poussin should have been its first director but he died the 19th of
November 1665 and the task was entrusted to the painter Charles Errard. The goal
was to favour study trips in Italy for young French artists. The pensionnaires (artists in
residence) also had to provide the King with copies of the most beautiful paintings
and ancient statues of Rome for the royal palaces and gardens. The new
institution settled in the Mancini Palace on Via del Corso, and the pensionnaires
selected through the Rome Price from 1751 on.
The18th century was an extraordinary period for the institution, who welcomed
notably Fragonard, Boucher, Natoire, Houdon and David. The Revolution having
led to the pillage of Mancini s Palace, the Academy settled in the Villa Medici in
1803. New arts were introduced, such as music. The institution played again a
central role in the French Fine Arts system, and the painters Ingres, Flandrin,
Cabanel, Bouguereau, the sculptors David d Angers, Carpeaux, FalguiŁre, the
architects Labrouste, Baltard, Charles Garnier, the composers Berlioz, Gounod,
Bizet and Debussy are among its most famous pensionnaires. Horace Vernet and
Ingres himself have been illustrious directors. The first woman to enter the Villa was
the composer Nadia Boulanger, in 1914.
In 1961, De Gaulle s Minister of Culture, Andr� Malraux, appointed the painter
Balthus to be director. He started a general renovation of the edifice, of which
many walls carry the sign. The  Malraux mission of cultural influence was added to
the  Colbert Mission which consists in taking care of the pensionnaires. From this
time on, the Villa Medici has never stopped organising exhibitions, concerts, film
projections, readings and conferences, all opened to the public.
In 1968, the Rome Prices were abolished. The twenty pensionnaires or so, between
20 and 45 year old and from all nationalities, stay in Rome between one and two
years. They are selected by an independent jury, the composition of which varies
every year. The French Academy in Rome has also opened up to other arts and
fields than painting and music composition, such as history of art, photography,
cinema, literature, design, scenography and culinary art. Fran�ois Rouan, Michael
Levinas, Henri Loyrette, Ange Leccia, Pascal Dusapin, Bernard Frize, Georges Didi-
Huberman, Elisabeth Ballet, Herv� Guibert, Marie N Diaye, Yan Pei-Ming, Val�rie
Mrejen ecc. have been some of the most famous pensionnaires since 1968.
Villa Medici is thus a place where a fruitful collaboration between academics and
artists, between the past, the present and the future, as well as between French,
Italian and International cultures still happen everyday.
�ric de Chassey
Directeur
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