French Renaissance

The French Renaissance is roughly the period from Charles VIII of France through Henri IV of France and is said to begin with the French invasion of Italy in 1494. The reigns of François I (from 1515 to 1547) and his son Henri II (from 1547 to 1559) are generally considered the apex of the French Renaissance. After Henri II's unfortunate death in a joust, the country was ruled by his widow Catherine de Medici and her sons François II, Charles IX and Henri III, and although the Renaissance continued to flourish, the French Wars of Religion between huguenots and catholics ravaged the country.

Art of the French Renaissance

The High Renaissance

In the late 15th century, the French invasion of Italy and the proximity of the vibrant Burgundy court (with its Flemish connections) brought the French into contact with the goods, paintings, and the creative spirit of the Northern and Italian Renaissance, and the initial artistic changes in France were often carried out by Italian and Flemish artists Jean Clouet (and his son François Clouet) and the Italians Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate of the (so-called) first School of Fontainebleau (from 1531). Leonardo da Vinci was also invited to France by François I, but other than the paintings which he brought with him, he produced little for the French king.

Related Topics:
Invasion of Italy - Burgundy - Italian Renaissance - Jean Clouet - François Clouet - Rosso Fiorentino - Francesco Primaticcio - Niccolò dell'Abbate - School of Fontainebleau - Leonardo da Vinci

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The art of the period from François I through Henri IV is often heavily inspired by late Italian pictorial and sculptural developments commonly referred to as Mannerism (associated with Michelangelo and Parmigianino, among others), characterized by figures which are elongated and graceful and a reliance on visual rhetoric, including the elaborate use of allegory and mythology.

Related Topics:
Mannerism - Michelangelo - Parmigianino - Rhetoric

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There are a number of French artists of incredible talent in this period including the painter Jean Fouquet of Tours (who achieved amazingly realistic portraits and remarkable illuminated manuscripts) and the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon.

Related Topics:
Jean Fouquet - Jean Goujon - Germain Pilon

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Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the French Renaissance was the construction of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley: no longer conceived of as fortresses, these pleasure palaces took advantage of the richness of the rivers and lands of the Loire region and they show remarkable architectural skill.

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The old Louvre castle in Paris was also rebuilt under the direction of Pierre Lescot and would become the core of a brand new Renaissance château. To the west of the Louvre, Catherine de Medici had built for her the Tuileries palace with extensive gardens and a grotto.

Related Topics:
Louvre - Château - Catherine de Medici - Tuileries - Grotto

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The French Wars of Religion however dragged the country into thirty years of civil war which eclipsed much artistic production outside of religious and political propaganda.

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Late Mannerism and Early Baroque

The ascension of Henri IV to the throne brought a period of massive urban development in Paris, including construction on the Pont Neuf, the Place des Vosges (called the "Place Royale"), the Place Dauphine, and parts of the Louvre.

Related Topics:
Henri IV - Paris - Pont Neuf - Place des Vosges - Louvre

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Henri IV also invited the artists Toussaint Dubreuil, Martin Fréminet and Ambroise Dubois to work on the château of Fontainebleau and they are typically called the second School of Fontainebleau.

Related Topics:
Toussaint Dubreuil - Martin Fréminet - Ambroise Dubois - Château of Fontainebleau - School of Fontainebleau

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Marie de Medici, Henri IV's queen, invited the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens to France, and the artist painted a number of large-scale works for the queen's Luxembourg Palace in Paris. Another Flemish artist working for the court was Frans Pourbus the younger.

Related Topics:
Marie de Medici - Peter Paul Rubens - Luxembourg Palace - Frans Pourbus the younger

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Outside of France, working for the ducs of Lorraine, one finds a very different late mannerist style in the artists Jacques Bellange, Claude Deruet and Jacques Callot. Having little contact with the French artists of the period, they developed a heightened, extreme, and often erotic mannerism (including night scenes and nightmare images), and excellent skill in engraving.

Related Topics:
Lorraine - Jacques Bellange - Claude Deruet - Jacques Callot

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Reference works (arts)

• Anthony Blunt: Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 ISBN 0300053142
• André Chastel. French Art Vol II: The Renaissance ISBN 208013583X
• André Chastel. French Art Vol III: The Ancient Régime ISBN 2080136178