The verbal-process edition of the Academy of fine arts: a source for the study of the Rome grand prix

The edition of the minutes of the Academy of Fine Arts now in progress at the Ecole nationale des chartes is concerned at the present time with the period from 1811 to 1871. The amount of "ecdotic" work required for this task leads one to wonder about the scientific viability of such a project. For some, the meetings of the Academy are of little interest; for others, the most important aspects of the meetings has already been explored; and for still others, the essential element, the judgment of the materials sent back to Paris by the pensionnaires in Rome, ought to be the subject of a separate inquiry. It is nonetheless clear, these arguments notwithstanding, the minutes comprise a source of considerable importance for the history of nineteenth-century art, and, in particular, for the history of the Prix tie Rome. From year to year, they relate in detail the carrying out of a highly complex procedure, they give the names of all the contestants, the give clues about the issues the motivated the various jurors, including matters of concern to their own careers. Accompanied by tables and multiple indexes, the edition of the minutes provides a point of view that cannot be ignored.