text: She then visited the Medici library, and later a gallery containing numerous self-portraits by famous artists, where she was asked to present her own self-portrait to the collection, promised to do so as soon as she reached Rome.During her stay in Florence, Vigée Le Brun made the acquaintance of another French lady, the Marquise de Venturi, who took her on excursions along the Arno. She soon left Florence and departed for Rome, arriving there in late November 1789. As she arrived in Rome, she was surprised by how filthy the famous Tiber was. She headed to the French Academy in the Via del Corso where the director of the academy, M. de Ménageot, went down to receive her. She requested lodging of him, and he quickly furnished her, her daughter and her governess a nearby apartment. He took her to see Saint Peter's on the very same day, where she was underwhelmed by its size; not matching the lavish descriptions she had heard of it, although its vastness became apparent to her upon walking around the structure. 