David attempted to win the Prix de Rome, an art scholarship to the French Academy in Rome, five times. At each failure he became increasingly frustrated with the Academy for denying him the prize, and this dissatisfaction sowed the seeds of a long-standing grudge against the institution.
Once, he lost according to legend because he had not consulted Vien, one of the judges. Another time, he lost because a few other students had been competing for years, and Vien felt David's education could wait for these other mediocre painters. After his loss in 1772 he engaged in a hunger strike which ended after 2.5 days when his professors called on him and encouraged him to continue painting. Reassured, he continued his studies, only to fail to win the Prix de Rome again the following year. Finally, in 1774, David won the Prix de Rome with his canvas "Érasistrate découvre la raison de la maladie d'Antiochus". Normally, he would have had to attend another school before attending the Academy in Rome, but Vien's influence kept him out of it. He went to Italy with Vien in 1775, as Vien had been appointed director of the French Academy at Rome.
