In 1801, once again, Blondel convinced his father to break his apprenticeship contract as his drawing talent secured him a place in the studio of Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault. Within a year, Blondel had acquired the nickname Monsieur Cinq-Prix (Mr Five-prizes) among his peers at the studio, on account of the number of medals and prizes he had won for his drawing.Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch, Gary Tinterow and Philip Conisbee (eds), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Exhibition Catalogue, 1999, page 164. Another year on and Blondel's entry to the 1803 salon, a painting depicting Aeneas rescuing his father from the burning city of Troy, won him the Grand Prix de Rome. However, due to a change in the system and the temporary suspension of scholarships, no students were sent to the French Academy in Rome that year and Blondel would have to wait until 1809 before he could take his place at the Villa Medici.Barnes, Joanna R., American Federation of Arts, French Oil Sketches and the Academic Tradition, pp. 125
