National Academy of Saint Luke

The Accademia di San Luca , a partnership between eminent Italian and foreign painters, sculptors and architects , established as a center of training and innovation in the 16th century, still maintains its commitment to promoting and enhancing the arts today.

Since 1934 the Academy has been located in Palazzo Carpegna , the subject of an ambitious expansion project by Francesco Borromini, unfortunately significantly downsized due to the client's ups and downs up to the sole construction of the portico, the portal with decorative frieze and the helical ramp of connection between floors.

The Academic Gallery is located on the third floor of the Palace, the layout of which, radically revised in 2000, was based on the criterion of immediately and effectively conveying the very idea of the Academy over the centuries. The current exhibition reflects the main themes of almost five hundred years of history of the institution (one of the oldest in Europe), with particularly rich documentation of its most relevant activity, namely the training of painters, sculptors and architects, activities which had its main foundation in the exercise of drawing.

The cultural initiatives promoted by the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca include the publication of volumes relating to the Academy and its history; the staging of temporary exhibitions in the exhibition spaces of the building; the restoration and loan of works from academic collections for national and international exhibitions; the presentation of books and the holding of conferences and conventions.