“To the Studious Youth of Drawing”: the Clementine Architectural

“To the Studious Youth of Drawing”: the Clementine Architectural Competitions (1702–1869)

Dates: 7 May – 25 July 2026 | Venue: Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Palazzo Carpegna, Rome.

The Accademia Nazionale di San Luca presents an in-depth exhibition on the Clementine Competitions, the awards system established by Pope Clement XI in 1702 to promote young architects. The show examines how the competitions functioned as a formative and professional milestone for participants across the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Works on display: more than 140 drawings, many shown for the first time, selected from a catalogued body of 976 works by competition winners.
• Curators: Laura Bertolaccini, Francesco Cellini, Tommaso Manfredi, Angelo Torricelli.
• Highlights: studies ranging from orders and small surveys to large-scale architectural compositions; a display case of historical drawing instruments, including items once owned by Giuseppe Piermarini.
• Historical significance: insights into the competition classes (I, II, III), their exercises and the careers of notable laureates such as Filippo Juvarra, Carlo Marchionni and Giuseppe Valadier.

The exhibition occupies three rooms on the ground floor of Palazzo Carpegna and two rooms on the piano nobile, following the competition’s historical development and its procedural changes from the 18th to the 19th century. It is valuable both for researchers and for visitors interested in the techniques and practices of architectural drawing.

Practical note: the exhibition is open to the public from 7 May to 25 July 2026 at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Palazzo Carpegna, Rome). For visiting hours and ticketing, please check the Accademia’s official channels.