The role of academic educational system was to produce an artist as a gentleman and intellectual as opposed to a craftsman who works with his hands. In order to produce grand history paintings, knowledge of history, literature and mythology was an essential requirement. Students were encouraged to study anatomy, geometry and perspective. They were taught the classical principles of composition: correct drawing, proportions, light and shade, simplicity, clarity, line, expression.
Hierarchical Structure
There was strict hierarchy in terms of ranking of academicians as well as in terms of the academic curriculum.
The educational system established by academies was highly formal. A student’s journey began with strict entry qualifications. An adept would have to pass an exam and often present the academy’s authorities with a letter of reference from an accomplished Professor of art. Full membership could only be acquired by submission of a reception piece.
The subject-matter of the reception piece would determine the status of the new member, since history painters had the greatest possibility of success. The study was systematically staged and subject to continuous assessments, whereby advancement to the higher level was formally judged following the presentation of the student’s portfolio for approval.
The academies introduced their students to the canonical body of works (as a rule these were the works by Italian Renaissance Masters). Students attended regular lectures followed by discussions. These sessions concluded in the passing of formal resolutions on artistic practices and principles.
The main teaching method was copying. Copying Old Masters was considered the best way to absorb what was thought to be the correct principles of creating high art and so the first step was drawing. Students copied first the drawings of antique sculpture and High Renaissance works. Then they moved on to copying originals or plaster casts of antique and Renaissance sculpture. The final stage of this level was drawing from nude. Life drawing classes were the most important feature by which an academy was distinguished and distanced itself from a guild.
Students were not allowed to paint until they have acquired proficiency in drawing. Only after several years of training in drawing could they begin to learn how to paint.
Academies regularly organized competitions where the student’s ability was tested and recorded. The system of admission, assessments and competitions was one of the means by which academies protected hierarchies and thus perpetuated the academic values as those whose work best exemplified the canonical subject-matter and style were rewarded.
The Most Famous Academies of Art
- Florence, Accademia dell’Arte del Disegno ,the first academy founded in 1562 by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) under the patronage of Grand Duke Cosimo I de Medici
- Rome, Accademia Di San Luca (named after the patron saint of artists Saint Luke) founded in 1583 and headed by Federico Zuccaro (1542-1609) under the patronage of the Pope focused on art theory.
- Paris, Academie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture founded in 1648 and headed by Charles Le Brun, under the patronage of King Louis XIV later to become Academie des beaux-arts. The French Academy promoted intellectual approach to studying and viewing art and became a model for other European academies.
- London, Royal Academy of Arts founded in 1768 and headed by Sir Joshua Reynolds
- Philadelphia, American Academy of the Fine Arts founded in 1805
Sources
- Perry, Gill, and Cunningham Colin, Academies, Museums and Canons,Yale University Press, 1999
