 The Academy was from the 17th to 19th centuries the culmination of study for select French artists who, having won the prestigious Prix de Rome (Rome Prize), were honored with a 3, 4 or 5-year scholarship (depending on the art discipline they followed) in the Eternal City for the purpose of the study of art and architecture.Such scholars were and are known as "pensionnaires de l'Académie" (Academy pensioners).One recipient of the scholarship in the 17th century was Pierre Le Gros the Younger.