Schiff mit einer Ladung Weinfässer

1734

Move to Rome for Twenty Years

Thanks to the Marquis de Caumont's grant, the twenty-year-old Vernet went to Rome, where he studied under the marine painters Bernardino Fergioni and Adrien Manglard; he lived in Rome for twenty years, studying Italian landscape painters such as Claude Lorrain.

1743 · Carrière

the Accademia di San Luca in Rome

Vernet became a full member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome; his work is thought to have been influenced by Giovanni Paolo Panini, whom he probably met and worked with in Rome.

1745

Marriage to Virginia Parker

Two years after joining the Accademia di San Luca, Vernet married in Rome the Englishwoman Virginia Parker, daughter of a captain in the papal navy.

from 1746

Beginning of His Exhibition Career

Vernet took part in exhibitions from 1746 onward and, with rare exceptions, continued to exhibit until his death.

1753

Return to Paris, the "Ports of France" Commission

Through the mediation of the Marquis de Marigny, Vernet was summoned to the French court: he was to depict the most important ports of France in twenty-four paintings and glorify the "naval might of the kingdom." With his family he set out for Marseille and began the long journey along the entire French coast from south to north.