The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture), Paris, was founded in 1648, modelled on Italian examples, such as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.
In 1661, it came under the control of Jean-Baptiste Colbert who made the arts a main part in the glorification of Louis XIV. From 1683 on, it reached its greatest power under the directorship of Charles Le Brun with its hierarchy of members and strict system of education.
On August 8, 1793, it was suspended by the revolutionaryNational Convention, when the latter decreed the abolition of "toutes les académies et sociétés littéraires patentées ou dotées par la Nation".
It was later renamed Académie de peinture et de sculpture.
The "Académie de peinture et sculpture" is also responsible for the Académie de France in the villa Médicis in Rome (founded in 1666) which allows promising artists to study in Rome.
