Model, Identity, and the French Academy in Rome: Nicolas Vleughels and his relationship with Portuguese and Spaniards Artists

Abstract

Nicolas Vleughels was a French painter, best known for his pivotal role as director of the Académie de France in Rome (1725- 1737). His particular choices as head of that institution, and his way of encouraging his pensionnaires had a tremendous impact on the production of those young artists. However that impact is usually measured within the frame of French and Roman art but not in a broader perspective more in consonance with the international status of the institution. Through the analysis of the correspondence between Vleughels and the Public Works Minister in Paris, this article addresses the relationship of that charismatic man with the two Iberian crowns. On one hand, the article deals with the rather unknown and short-lived Portuguese Academy in Rome, whose connexion with the French Institution was more about rivalry and strategic positioning than a proper institutional relationship. On the other hand, the article also tackles the turbulent relationship between Vleughels and the Spanish pensionnaires, which almost resulted in a diplomatic crisis, even if the Spaniards were supposed to enjoy a particular status at the French Academy thanks to the political alliances between the Spanish and French monarchs.