Villa Medici

The French Academy in Rome is proud to date its foundation back to Louis XIV and his minister Colbert. It is one of the very few institutions that were not destroyed by the Revolution. This flattering opinion is not entirely true. The French Academy, settled at Villa Medici in 1803 by the director Joseph Benoît Suvée, is very different from the Academy that welcomed Suvée as fellow at Mancini Palace which was the previous venue. This historical break is precisely marked by the quasi-disappearance of the olden archives. In the Villa Medici it is impossible to find documents dating the 17^th century and a very few are from the 18^th century. The 18^th century's pillages have destroyed or scattered them, just like the archives of the royal convent of the Trinità dei Monti (located beside de Villa Medici). These losses are partly compensated by the collections kept at the National Archives in Paris. However the archives since 1803 are still available and well preserved. They form a rather restricted collection but simply organised.

The French Academy's archives consist of a single series of boxes, every box containing from 300 to 400 folios. There is also a Residents' register stablished in 1807 and still in use. Some other records contain the Villa Medici inventories (furniture, collections, library) dating from the late 19^th century. According to the regulation, there is also a register of shipments. The secretary's office owns one since 1910. Finally registers of books loans to directors and Residents are kept, the oldest of which dates from 1834 with a few gaps, up to the present time.