jacques - francois blondel founded the royal academy of painting and sculpture in france.
who founded the royal academy of painting and sculpture in france?
jacques - francois blondel
for centuries, paris has attracted artists from around the world, who arrive in the city to educate themselves and to seek inspiration from its vast pool of artistic resources and galleries. as a result, paris has acquired a reputation as the "city of art". italian artists were a profound influence on the development of art in paris in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in sculpture and reliefs. painting and sculpture became the pride of the french monarchy and the french royal family commissioned many parisian artists to adorn their palaces during the french baroque and classicism era. sculptors such as girardon, coysevox and coustou acquired reputations as the finest artists in the royal court in 17th-century france. pierre mignard became the first painter to king louis xiv during this period. in 1648, the "académie royale de peinture et de sculpture" (royal academy of painting and sculpture) was established to accommodate for the dramatic interest in art in the capital. this served as france's top art school until 1793.
paris
the first private academy to become "official" and to this day the most prestigious of governmental academies is the académie française ("french academy"), founded in 1634 by cardinal richelieu. it is concerned with the french language. in the fine arts, the académie de peinture et de sculpture ("academy of painting and sculpture") was founded by cardinal mazarin in 1648 and was soon followed by a number of other officially instituted academies: the académie royale de danse ("royal academy of dance") in 1661; the académie royale des inscriptions et médailles ("royal academy of inscriptions and medals") in 1663 [renamed the académie royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres ("royal academy of inscriptions and literature" or "royal academy of humanities") in 1716]; the académie royale des sciences ("royal academy of sciences") in 1666; the académie d'opéra ("academy of opera") in 1669 [renamed the académie royale de musique ("royal academy of music") in 1672 and the académie de musique in 1791]; and the académie royale d'architecture ("royal academy of architecture") founded by jean-baptiste colbert in 1671.
french art salons and academies