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Braccio dello Stato: Papal Reclamation of the Accademia di San Luca during the Catholic Restoration, 1824-1844
Upshaw, Breanna Chavon
Upshaw, Breanna Chavon
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Abstract
In the nineteenth century, the Accademia di San Luca underwent a series of radical organizational changes, specifically in its training methodology. A mid-century convergence of factors complicated what is generally considered the didactic peak of the institution. In 1824, Leo XII, the first pope to be elected after the reconstitution of the Papal States, was tasked with the relocation of the academy. For the twenty years between 1824 and 1844, the Insigne e Pontificia Accademia Romana di belle arti inhabited the Archiginnasio Romano, known also as the Palazzo della Sapienza. This complex, and the academy’s auxiliary locations, served as sites of conflict between the Accademia di San Luca’s pedagogical potential and the practical realities created by their socio-political circumstances in a postNapoleonic era. In order to determine how the academic evolution of San Luca could be understood within the context of its reclamation as a pontifical institution, it was first necessary to discern what that reclamation entailed. The thesis focuses on the three acting bodies participating in the formulation and execution of instruction. The active roles of the academy’s stewards, staff, and students are analyzed in their institutional context. They are then positioned within the intersectional dimensions of the social, economic, and political climate of the Papal States in the mid-nineteenth century. Institutional records from the academy are supplemented by first-hand accounts and publications, providing nuance for contemporary research on production, sale, and training. The reassessment of this material clarifies how art education in one of Europe’s oldest art academies became peripheral to the academy’s function and eventually obsolete as an institutional tool.
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Master of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2026.
Date
2026
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Upshaw_Breanna_MA_Thesis_SP26.pdf
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Keywords
Accademia di San Luca, Catholic Church, Catholic church buildings, Conservation and restoration
Citation
Upshaw, Breanna Chavon. "Braccio dello Stato: Papal Reclamation of the Accademia di San Luca during the Catholic Restoration, 1824-1844". Master's Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2026.