Thursday, 31 May 1883

The competition has been judged: Amélie is placed first, then five men, then myself, then Filippini.

The little Polish girl is unplaced.
This result makes me laugh and does not vex me in the least. When it reaches that degree, it becomes amusing. After all, competitions have always caused great astonishments, at the École des Beaux-Arts as much as in lesser establishments.
It was Commère who received the Prix de Rome over Bastien in 1875.
It is Claire who brings me the news. The Maréchale comes to collect her at five o’clock.
They leave in twenty days for their country house near Versailles, and we have been invited.

Notes

The Prix de Rome: the State’s highest prize for young painters, with several years at the Villa Medici in Rome. Léon Comerre (1850–1916; Marie writes «Commere») won it in 1875, when Bastien-Lepage came second. ↩