École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts

The École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.

The École des Beaux-Arts is made up of a complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, just across the Seine from the Louvre museum. Founded in 1648 by Charles Le Brun as the Académie de peinture et de sculpture (the famed French Academy). In 1793, the institutes were suppressed. However, in 1816, the name was changed when it merged with the Académie d'architecture. Held under the King's tutelage until 1863, an imperial decree of November 13, 1863 named the school's director, who serves for a five-year term. Long supervised by the Ministry of Public Instruction, the École des Beaux-Arts is now a public establishment.

The École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris is the original of a series of Écoles des Beaux-Arts in French regional centers. Since its founding in 1648, the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture has had a school, France's elite institution of instruction in the arts. Its program was structured around a series of anonymous competitions that culminated in the grand prix de l'Académie Royale, more familiar as the Grand Prix de Rome, for its winner was awarded a bourse and a place at the French Academy in Rome. During his stay in Rome, a pensionnaire was expected to send regular envois of his developing work back to Paris. Contestants for the Prix were assigned a theme from the literature of Classical Antiquity; their individual identities were kept secret to avoid any scandal of favoritism.

With his final admission into the Académie, the new member had to present his fellow academicians a morceau de réception, a painting or sculpture that demonstrated his learning, intelligence, and proficiency in his art. Jacques-Louis David's Andromache Mourning Hector was his reception offering in 1783; today it is in the collections of the Louvre Museum.

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