Pantheon, Rome
He travelled to Paris in September 1800 where he worked for a while under fellow Flemish painter [[Joseph-Benoît Suvée]], a [[Classicist]] painter. He then travelled on to Italy where he visited Florence and Naples and then settled in Rome where he remained for seven years. While in Rome, he sent his painting "Cincinnatus" (current location unknown) to the competition of the Academy of Ghent in 1802 where it won the golden prize. One of his works - a [[:File:Cornelis Cels - The descent from the Cross.JPG|"Descent from the Cross"]] ([[St. Paul's Church, Antwerp]]) - in the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome. He had been commissioned to paint the work as replacement for works by Rubens, which had been confiscated by the French occupiers. This work was so admired that he was immediately admitted as member and professor of the prestigious [[Accademia di San Luca]] in Rome. During his residence in Rome he painted many other commissions from Catholic institutions in Flanders and the Netherlands for religious works to replace paintings that had been lost to the French plunder.