It goes without saying that during the early years of Jean’s artistic career, the Prix de Rome was his most prestigious award, especially when one realizes that in France at the time, grandmasters such as Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) all made unsuccessful attempts to land the Prix de Rome. After all, the Rome prize was a continuation course and Italy was the cradle of classical art, a dream destination for many young artists who wanted to educate themselves further, but obviously were rarely able to bear the cost of this themselves. Since its inception, the Rome prize had been much sought after. The story goes that the French nineteenth-century artist Jacques-Louis David 9 even contemplated suicide after three unsuccessful attempts to win the Prix de Rome. Nevertheless, he persevered and, after his fifth entry, finally won the precious award. It also took the French musician Hector Berlioz10 five attempts to win his Prix de Rome. 9 Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), usually called David for short, a French painter of history scenes and por- traits. In 1774, David was awarded the Prix de Rome. Later, he was regarded as the leading figure of Neoclassicism and as such influenced numerous French painters. 10 Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), French composer and conductor. In 1830, at the age of twenty-seven, he was awarded the ‘Prix de Rome for Music’. The Prix de Rome was an incentive prize for exceptionally talented young artists. It was established in France in 1663 and subsequently adopted by a number of other countries, including the Nether- lands and future Belgium. Following the French model, different competitions for sculptors, painters and musicians were held in the Low Countries every three and four years. Painters were given a chance every three years, although the prize for this discipline was often not awarded because of – according to the jury – a lack of up-and-coming talent at that moment. The Prix de Rome consisted of a bursary to fund study tours to the Italian capital. There, the winner was allowed to study classical masterpieces at the Académie de France for a period of up to four years. In return, they had to design their own work of art and finish it completely, or else make a copy of a classical masterpiece. This had to be done in seclusion, totally isolated from the outside world. They also had to report on their findings and their study matter which – together with the work of art that had been produced in Rome – formed the basis for the final assessment. These processes were overseen by a supervisory committee, whose members, and this goes without saying, acted independently of the members of the jury. The bulky original file of Jean Colin’s ‘Prix de Rome for painting’ still exists, archived by the Brussels Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts [Royal Academy of Fine Arts] (archive number ARB 14180). It includes – among other things – the jury’s report of the competition, two voluminous reports by Colin from 1913 and 1914 (43 pages in total), various reports from the committee members and various correspondence. In 1910, the Belgian Prix de Rome’s compulsory subject for painting – determined by drawing lots – was the ‘Adoration of the shepherds’. That year, eighty-four artists entered the competition. Firstly, the participants were subjected to a preliminary heat, which reduced their number to thirty. For the second round, they had to produce a true-to-life sketch of a head. After this test, eight finalists remained. They had to produce, within three months, a work of art relating to the subject that had been drawn by lots. The jury consisted of nine members, including the universally praised Emile Claus – who has since come to be regarded as the most important representative of Belgian Impressionism –, Xavier Mellery 11 and Evariste Carpentier 12 . Reading the report makes it clear that the jury ultimately made their selection from the eight different paintings that had been given a place in the finals, without knowing who the creators were. In that way, they judged without any past history, purely on the basis of that one work's technical realization and appearance. The deliberation by the jury took place at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp on 23 September 1910. Colin’s ‘Adoration of the shepherds’ was chosen by a large majority of votes: seven against two. In that year, the jury decided not to award a second prize, which would have offered the possible winner an opportunity to study at the same academy in Rome, albeit for a shorter period. ‘Only’ honourable mentions were awarded to the older Emile Vermeersch13 and Louis Busseret 14 . 11 Xavier Mellery (1845-1921), Belgian painter, draughtsman and illustrator. He is regarded as the forerunner of symbolism. In 1870, Mellery himself was awarded the Prix de Rome. 12 Evariste Carpentier (1845-1922), Belgian painter who evolved from academic painting to Impressionism. Alongside Emile Claus, Carpentier was one of the first representatives of luminism in Belgium. 13 Emile Vermeersch (1870-1952), Belgian draughtsman and painter of – among other things – townscapes, nudes and genre paintings. 14 Louis Buisseret (1888-1956), Walloon-Belgian painter, draughtsman and engraver. He painted realistic portraits, nudes and still lifes. In 1911, he won the Prix de Rome for engraving. In 1929, he received the silver medal at the Barcelona Salon and in the same year was appointed principal of the Art Academy in Mons (Belgium). In 1948, Buisseret took part in the Venice Biennale and in 1952 he was elevated to the rank of Commander in the Order of Leopold. Jean Colin’s ‘Adoration of the shepherds’ is a large oil painting (#110) depicting the Blessed Virgin holding the Infant Jesus on her knee. The two figures are surrounded by gaunt shepherds and members of their families. In itself, the composition is admirably simple. Mother Mary’s and Jesus’ incandescent glow partly illuminates the shepherds’ bodies. We notice a shrill contrast between the angelic faces of the Blessed Virgin and the newborn child and the shepherds’ tawny features. The delicately and richly coloured background – against which the figures clearly stand out – is bathed in the rays of the morning light. For a young artist, the whole painting shows evidence of an ex- ceptional academic talent, both through the fine and sober tonality and the composition and by the manner in which all this was put on canvas. According to the jury, Colin’s entry showed how much he had already mastered the métier by then and how outstandingly he managed to apply the play of light and the harmony of tones (sources: speech by Georges Moreau, the then burgomaster of Anderlecht, on Sunday 4 October 1910, on the occasion of the honouring of Jean Colin for winning his Prix de Rome and Gand Artistique art magazine, November 1923). ‘Adoration of the shepherds’ was generally lauded by Belgian and international art critics, except for a small group of conservative critics and – as Edouard Fonteyne describes them in the March 1922 edition of Beauté art magazine – ‘lovers of little paintings for the dining room’. Within these circles, the selection of Jean Colin caused a great stir. ‘How did the gentlemen of the jury, in their hats and cravats (…) arrive at the unfortunate idea to select somebody so young and intense? Somebody who expressed the most revolutionary tendencies in art?’ was how Fonteyne expressed his vicarious shame, answering his own question by remarking: ‘That was only possible because, in his painting, this highly talented young man has something to offer for everybody.’ In Jean Colin’s file on the Prix de Rome we find that he actually availed himself of only one of the four opportunities of travelling to Rome that the prize provided. This in contrast with, for instance, jury member Xavier Mellery, whose Italian journey for his Prix de Rome lasted no less than four whole years. It is true that the assignments related to the award were obligations, but apparently no strict stipulation as to time had been foreseen. In accordance with the regulations, as of 1911 Colin was allowed to make use of the travel expenses he had won. Yet, it turns out that – at least within the scope of his Rome prize – he did not leave for Italy until 1913. However, he did not even arrive in Rome that year: he stayed in Venice and its surrounding area, because of his love at first sight for 'the city of water and bridges’. In his report on the journey in question, he made elaborate mention of the marvellous city of Venice, where he began his analysis of classical masterpieces. The city of lagoons left a deep impression on Jean; he was to lose his heart to it for good. According to family reports, many years later he still spoke regularly about ‘his’ Venice and depicted that fondness several times in the form of oil paintings and a few engravings. For this reason, his descendants assumed that he must have visited Venice many times – which of course is not impossible –, although we were unable to recover any concrete evidence of this. During that year, Colin travelled – by way of Padua, Bologna and Ravenna – from Venice to Florence. In the capital of the Tuscan region, he again waxed lyrical while admiring the Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of St Lawrence) – the original parish church of the influential and art-loving 15th-century Medici family – and was struck dumb at seeing Michelangelo’s (1475-1564) majestic sculptures. Indeed, we find that most of the sketches in his reports of the Prix de Rome studies are after Michelangelo’s work. We quote from his 1913 report: ‘When one enters this wonderful chapel in the evening, while closely examining the colossal sculptures which the artist has put over the tombs, one gets emotional in one’s respect for and amazement at so much beauty. (…) Modern sculpture has no equal and even the most beautiful sculptures from antiquity do not come near.’ Indeed, Colin was by no means the first Prix de Rome traveller to visit Venice and Florence beforehand and stay there for a longer period. Evidently these were the favourite stops on the artistic pilgrimage to Rome, the ultimate paradise of western culture. In 1914, Colin finally travelled to Rome, where he again studied old masterpieces and produced the work for his thesis, a copy of Giovanni Boltraffio’s 15 original fresco Madonna col Bambino e donatore [Madonna with Child and donor] in the Museo del Tasso in Rome’s Sant’Onofrio church. The meticulous assessment of Jean Colin’s 1913 reports about his findings in Italy was carried out by the dean of the committee and chief supervisor Charles Hermans 16 and supervisors Léon Frédéric 17 and Albert Baertsoen 18 . For the assessment of the Italian journey in 1914, the triad consisted of Frédéric, Baertsoen and Fernand Khnopff 19 . 15 Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio (circa 1466 -1516), Italian painter from the High Renaissance, who worked in the studio of Leonardo da Vinci. He mainly created religious scenes and was also a portraitist. According to some, the painting Madonna col Bambino e donatore should be ascribed to Cesare da Sesto (1477-1523), also an Italian High Renaissance painter. 16 Charles Hermans (1839-1924), painter from the Belgian naturalist and realist schools. His own sojourn in Italy lasted from 1862 to 1867, where he produced – among other works – numerous paintings about monastic life in Rome, after which he undertook several more journeys to other Mediterranean regions. 17 Léon Frédéric (1856-1940), Belgian painter of historical and religious scenes, landscapes and portraits. His later period is considered part of the trend known as symbolism. From 1876 to 1878, Frédéric himself unsuccessfully competed for the Prix de Rome several times. In the end, his father was to finance that study tour, so that in 1878 and 1879 he was able to stay in Italy together with the Belgian sculptor and medallist Julien Dillens (1849-1904), who had landed the ‘Prix de Rome for sculpture’ in 1877. 18 Albert Baertsoen (1866-1922), Belgian painter and graphic artist. His later work evolved towards realistic Impressionism. Baertsoen was on friendly terms with Emile Claus. 19 Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921), Belgian symbolist painter, sculptor and designer, voted number 102 in the Flemish version of ‘The Greatest Belgian’ contest in 2005. It is clear that Colin’s first report within the framework of his Rome prize did not appear until 1913. In his concluding letter, addressed to the secretary of the Ministry of Science and Arts (dated 3 April, 1914), with which he submitted his thesis work, thereby concluding his Prix de Rome project, he clearly mentions his second journey in that year: ‘(…) en remettant mon rapport sur mon second voyage en Italie (…)’ [hereby submitting the report of my second Italian journey]. In the family archive, however, we found significant evidence that Jean Colin had indeed visited Italy one year before his first report for the Prix de Rome. It concerns a picture postcard sent to his niece Elisabeth, his sister Colette’s first daughter, who was one year and four months old at the time, with the following words written on it: ‘à la petite Elise, souvenir de mon séjour à Florence. Jean Colin. — 1912 – 5 –’ [to my little Elise, in memory of my sojourn in Florence. Jean Colin, May 1912]. Had Colin gone to Italy on a scouting trip that year, without reporting this to the continuation course committee? While we were completing the texts of this publication, Eric Min20 made another extra- ordinary last-minute discovery. During preliminary work on his book about artists in Venice, he found references to Jean Colin in the correspondence of the Antwerp Futurist Jules Schmalzigaug 21 , who lived in Venice for many years. On 6 or 7 June, Schmalzigaug wrote a letter to his parents in Caffè Florian in the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square), in which he states the following: ‘(…) A few days ago, as I was working in St Mark’s Square, somebody suddenly stood before me, mentio- ned my name and bade me good day. It was Colin, on the way from his Prix de Rome. He had come back from Algeria, where he had spent a few months and to which he will return to work. After that he went to Florence and at the moment he is working here in Venice.’ On 9 July Schmalzigaug writes: ‘(…) at this point, my letter was interrupted by a visit from Colin and the delivery of the mail. Colin stayed for an hour and was furious because he felt under pressure to leave. He is less fortunate than I am. He has not been able to finish a single painting and because of this he feels unhappy and ashamed, having to return to Brussels with so little material. However, he works hard, but it takes time before one finds one’s bearings in a new country.’8 It is clear that Jean Colin dealt with his Prix de Rome in a creative manner. We may note that Algeria is not in Italy and that his 1913 report, in which he feigns to have visited Venice for the first time that year, should not be taken too literally. 20 Eric Min (b. 1959) has been active since 1989 as a critic and essayist for De Morgen, Staalkaart and rekto:verso. He has published biographies of James Ensor and Rik Wouters. De eeuw van Brussel. Biografie van een wereldstad (1850-1914), his biography of the Belgian capital, was nominated for the AKO-literatuurprijs (a prize for literature in the Netherlands and Belgium) in 2014. His biography Henri Evenepoel. Een schilder in Parijs [A painter in Paris] was published in April 2016. 21 Jules Schmalzigaug (1882-1917), Belgian painter and draughtsman, was one of the first Belgian avant-garde artists to manifest themselves in Italian Futurism. He also followed Isidore Verheyden’s lessons at the Brussels Académie. Schmalzigaug never exhibited in Belgium during his lifetime. The unsigned ‘Adoration of the shepherds’ by Jean Colin is still in the archive of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where the deliberations of the jury took place at the time. In 1968, France abolished the original Prix de Rome. The last Belgian version was awarded in 1974. In the Netherlands, the award still exists; its organization was transferred to the Mondriaan Fund in 2013. Copyright © Marc Pairon: Impressionism :Hidden Masterpieces of Jean Colin