The Academy's predecessor was the
Compagnia di San Luca, a guild of painters and
miniaturists, which met in the demolished church of S. Luca all'Esquilino, near
Santa Maria Maggiore, and whose statutes and privileges were renewed 17 December 1478 by
Pope Sixtus IV. Among the founding members was the famous painter
Melozzo da Forlì, as he was the
pictor papalis. Through the initiative of
Girolamo Muziano, who was both one of the leading artists in Rome and superintendent of works for
Pope Gregory XIII, the Pope granted the Academy official recognition in 1577. In 1588
Pope Sixtus V gave the institution the ancient church of
S. Martina, which was rededicated as Santi Luca e Martina. In 1605, Pope
Paul V granted the Academy the right to pardon a condemned man on the feast of St. Luke. In the 1620s,
Urban VIII extended its rights to decide who was considered an artist in Rome, and in 1627 it came under the patronage of his nephew, Cardinal
Francesco Barberini. Like many academies it was traditional to submit a self-portrait – the collection serving as a record of the institution's illustrious membership. In 1633, Urban VIII gave it the right to tax all artists as well as art-dealers, and monopolize all public commissions. These latter measures raised strong opposition and apparently were poorly enforced. At some after 1634, during the time when
Pietro da Cortona was
principe, the accademia began to admit architects, who enjoyed the same status as painters and sculptors. The Academy offered courses in painting, sculpture and architecture. Competitions open to artists and architects of all nationalities under 25 years old, the
Concorsi Clementini, were held annually until 1721, when they became triennial. In 1763 these were supplemented by the
Concorsi Balestra, and thereafter the two competitions alternated biennially. In 1845, the Academy expanded to the
Palazzo Camerale on the
Via di Ripetta in order to have the art students in one location. This later became the
Liceo Artistico Ripetta.
The Cortona-Sacchi Debate and other artistic issues Artistic issues debated within the Academy included the Cortona-Sacchi controversy (see
Andrea Sacchi for further details of this debate) about the number of figures in a painting. Disdain was expressed by many academicians for the
Bamboccianti.
Giovanni Bellori gave famous lectures on painting in the Academy. In the early 18th century, the painter
Marco Benefial was inducted, and then expelled for criticizing the academy as an insider.
Recent times Due to the construction of
Via dell'Impero, the academy's historic headquarters on Via Bonella was demolished and in 1934 the institution moved to
Palazzo Carpegna. The Library of the National Academy of San Luca houses the Academic Library and the Sarti Roman Municipal Library, which together hold over 50,000 volumes regarding ipainting, sculpture and architecture. Scholarships are periodically announced for research activities in academic archives or abroad. == Notable people ==