The Virgin and Child

1846–1850 · 修学

Beaux-Arts de Paris

1848–1850

The Prix de Rome: three attempts

In April 1848 Bouguereau enters the Prix de Rome competition for the first time, but soon riots break out in Paris and he enrols in the National Guard; he fails to win in 1848 (third place by some accounts, second prize by others) or in 1849. In 1850 his “Zenobia Found on the Banks of the Araxes” wins a joint first prize: it receives fewer votes than Paul Baudry’s work, but because of the revolution of 1848 no one was sent to Italy and a vacancy has arisen at the French Academy in Rome.

1851–1853 · 修学

French Academy in Rome

1857

The Salon of 1857: a medal, Gautier and Napoleon III’s commissions

The works Bouguereau shows at the Salon of 1857 arouse the enthusiasm of Théophile Gautier and win a medal of honour, above all for the decoration of the Bartholoni mansion. Commissions from Emperor Napoleon III follow: in 1857 an official commission for “The Emperor Visiting the Victims of the Flood at Tarascon in June 1856” (other accounts say the ministry gave this commission in 1856).

1866年5月24日

Married: Marie-Nelly Monchablon

3 April 1877

The death of his wife Nelly; in June, of the baby Maurice

In October 1876 Nelly has a fifth child, Maurice, but her health declines and the doctors suspect tuberculosis (other accounts say she dies of complications after childbirth); on 3 April 1877 Bouguereau’s wife dies, aged forty. Two months later, in June, the baby Maurice dies too.