At the beginning of the 19th century the journey to Rome was still strongly anchored within the idealistic image that young artists had for the development of their artistic careers. From the 1820s the concept that Rome was the ultimate destination started to erode. The borders of the Classical world shifted to include Constantinople - the other important city of the Roman Empire - and various eastern and southern Mediterranean sites from history came into sight.

Artists joined with the ever more numerous diplomatic missions and in so doing arrived in places the Prix de Rome would never have brought them.

During this period Europe was drawn into the Greek's struggle for liberation from the Ottoman Empire. The Greek's struggle for independence (1821-1832) was aimed at the resurrection of Hellas, the cradle of Western culture. It is a political and cultural programme that artists gladly endorsed.