The Academy was born from the Accademia di San Luca, which was founded in the late 16th century and later became a pontifical school for artistic studies.
In those days, the Accademia was a prestigious meeting place for artists and, at the same time, a teaching model to be imitated by similar developing institutions.
With the unification of Italy and with Rome as the capital city, there was a need to start a reform of art education that would meet the needs of the young Italian State.
After a slow process, which saw the emergence of didactic models oriented towards cultural research and professionalism linked to industrial and artisanal development, the Accademia was established, initially taking the name of Regia Accademia di Belle Arti denominate di San Luca, then Istituto di Belle Arti and finally settling on its current name of Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma.
The historical complex that houses it, in Via di Ripetta, traditionally called The Horseshoe, was built in the 1840s as a residential building and was adapted to house the Academy with the addition of rooms specially designed for the Scuola Libera del Nudo.