Academy of English Professors of the Liberal Arts

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont,
Founder of the Academy
Painter: Pompeo Batoni, around 1755 (1753–1756), oil on canvas, 97.8 × 73.7 cm

John Parker, Director of the Academy
Painter: Marco Benefial, 1761

The Academy of English Professors of the Liberal Arts was a British art school in Rome.[1]

History

Some English artists and art lovers founded the English Art Academy in Rome for British and Irish artists on May 11, 1752, under the leadership of the art-loving Irish nobleman James Caulfeild (1728–1799)[2][3][4] – modeled after the already existing French Académie de France à Rome.[5] The new art school emerged from the earlier Academy of History Painters founded in 1748 by 16 English painters in Rome.[6][7] At that time, the Italian capital had developed into a center of international art education.

The sole director of this art academy as well as its predecessor was the English historical and portrait painter John Parker, who had been in Rome for study purposes since 1745. Members of the academy included the architect William Chambers, the painters Gavin Hamilton, Thomas Patch, and Richard Wilson as well as the artist, collector, antiquities dealer, and banker Thomas Jenkins. The academy also functioned as a copying workshop for ancient Roman paintings for the English art market,[8] with Parker working as an art agent for his sponsor Charlemont, who probably refinanced his expenses in Rome through the sale of the paintings.[9]

However, the academy was closed down on Charlemont's orders after only six years in April 1758 due to disagreements among the artists working there.[10] Causes also included the dispute that began in 1756 between Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Parker, and Charlemont,[11] as well as earlier "misconduct" by the homosexual painter Thomas Patch, which led to his expulsion from Rome in 1755. Academy director John Parker also left Rome and was already at the Accademia di San Luca in 1756.

References

1. Bernard Denvir (Ed.): The eighteenth century. Art, design, and society 1689-1789. Volume 2. Longman Paperback, 1983, ISBN 0-582-49143-6, p. 183
2. He was the 4th Viscount Charlemont and from 1763 the 1st Earl of Charlemont, also jokingly called the Volunteer Earl
3. Correspondence between Parker and Charlemont in: Fintan Cullen: Sources in Irish art, 2000, p. 167 (Digital Copy)
4. Römische Mitteilungen. Volumes 73–74, Publisher W. Regenberg, 1967, p. 55 (Excerpt)
5. "Report on the establishment of an academy in Rome". London Evening Post. 1752-06-06. Cited in "London Evening Post, 6 June 1752". The art world in Britain 1660 to 1735. artworld. Archived from the original on 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
6. Edgar Peters Bowron, Iveagh Bequest: Pompeo Batoni (1708-87) and his British patrons, Greater London Council, 1982, p. 36 (Excerpt)
7. The question is whether there were really two consecutive institutions or just a name change: The only director of both institutions was the painter John Parker, the only sponsor of both institutions was the Earl of Charlemont.
8. Wolfgang Becker (Ed.): Studies in the art of the nineteenth century. Volume 10. Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Prestel Publishing, 1971, p. 44 (Excerpt)
9. Arthur Michael Samuel: Piranesi. B.T. Batsford, 1910, pp. 76 ff.; Academy of English Professors of the Liberal Arts is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
10. Richard James Campbell, Victor I. Carlson: Visions of antiquity. Neoclassical figure drawings. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993, ISBN 0-295-97309-9, p. 83 (Excerpt)
11. Alastair Smart: The Life and Art of Allan Ramsay, Routledge & Paul, 1952, p. 91 (Digital Copy)