when the latter decided to give up his studio to take the post as director of the french academy in the villa medici in rome, menn returned to his grandparents in coinsins before following his master in fall 1834. his journey led him first via milan to venice, where he met briefly with his compatriot louis léopold robert, and copied works by titian and tintoretto. he then travelled via padua and bologna to florence, where he met old classmates from ingres’ studio, and arrived finally in rome in spring 1835. there, menn copied works by raphael and michelangelo, but he also started to produce extraordinary fresh small landscape paintings in the open air. in summer 1836, he visited the campagna, capri and naples, where too he drew and painted landscapes directly from nature, and copied classical antiquities from pompeii as well as giovanni bellini's transfiguration in the museo borbonico.