The chronological arch chosen ranges from the pontificate of Clement XI Albani (1700-1721) to that of Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740-1758). The project is to present in a clear and eloquent way the characteristics of the «Roman School» through the production of the teachers, since the end of the activity of a real head of school such as Carlo Maratti, around which blossomed and formed a whole generation that exported its style out of Rome, until the first maturity of Pompeo Batoni, who contested the European primacy to Anton Raphaël Mengs. As Luigi Lanzi wrote at the end of the century, the Roman school – for which he proposed to adopt the term “university” of painting – was based on the study of its rich classical heritage and on the masters of the 16th century, led by Raphael. The main place of development of this dynamic was the Accademia de San Luca, «rebuilt» by Pope Clement XI, alongside the Académie de France, installed at the Mancini Palace on the Via del Corso. The exhibition aims to present the dialogue between the two academies, through the competitions, the reception pieces, and some particularly significant works of its members. The works on display will, however, bear witness to the fact that the Roman artistic panorama constitutes a diverse ensemble devoid of homogeneity, through the contribution of artists of different backgrounds, such as the Frenchman Pierre Subleyras, or who, like Marco Benefial, followed a direction guided by personal reflections.