French Renaissance

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the cultural movement known as the Renaissance in France. For more general historical information about France in this period (including demographics, language, and geography), see
Ancien Régime
.
Renaissance
The School of Athens (1509–1511) by Raphael
Aspects
Regions
History and study

The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European[citation needed] Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define the artistic and cultural "rebirth" of Europe.

Notable developments during the French Renaissance include the spread of humanism, early exploration of the "New World" (as New France by Giovanni da Verrazzano and Jacques Cartier); the development of new techniques and artistic forms in the fields of printing, architecture, painting, sculpture, music, the sciences and literature; and the elaboration of new codes of sociability, etiquette and discourse.

The French Renaissance traditionally extends from (roughly) the 1494 French invasion of Italy during the reign of Charles VIII until the 1610 death of Henry IV, with an apex during the 1515–1559 reigns of Francis I and Henry II.

This chronology notwithstanding, certain artistic, technological or literary developments associated with the Renaissance arrived in France earlier (for example, by way of the Burgundy court or the papal court in Avignon); however, the Black Death of the 14th century and the Hundred Years' War kept France economically and politically weak until the late 15th century.

The word "Renaissance"

The word Renaissance is a French word, whose literal translation into English is "Rebirth". The term was first used and defined[1] by French historian Jules Michelet in his 1855 work Histoire de France (History of France).[2] Jules Michelet defined the 16th-century Renaissance in France as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world.[3] As a French citizen and historian, Michelet also claimed the Renaissance as a French movement.[4]

Art

French art history
Historical periods
French artists
Thematic
Movements
See also
For a chronological list of French Renaissance artists, see List of French artists § 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, such as Jean Clouet and his son François Clouet and the Italians Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate of the first School of Fontainebleau (from 1531).

In 1516,

Louvre museum of Paris
.

The art of the period from Francis I through

mythology
.

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

Late Mannerism and early Baroque

Henry IV invited the artists

château of Fontainebleau and they are typically called the second School of Fontainebleau
.

Frans Pourbus the younger
.

Outside France, working for the dukes 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 etching.

Architecture

Main article: French Renaissance architecture

One of the greatest accomplishments 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.

The old

Tuileries palace with extensive gardens and a grotte
.

The ascension of

Paris, including construction on the Pont Neuf, the Place des Vosges (called the "Place Royale"), the Place Dauphine, and parts of the Louvre
(amongst which the Great Gallery).

Château de Chenonceau (1515-1521), designed by Philibert de l'Orme
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau (1518–1527)
Château de Chambord (1519–1547)
Château d'Écouen (1538–1550)
The Pierre Lescot wing of the Louvre (1546–1556)
Place des Vosges (1605–1612)
Palais ducal de Nevers
Château de Valençay

Garden

Main article: Gardens of the French Renaissance

French Renaissance gardens were characterized by symmetrical and geometric planting beds or parterres; plants in pots; paths of gravel and sand; terraces; stairways and ramps; moving water in the form of canals, cascades and monumental fountains, and extensive use of artificial grottes, labyrinths and statues of mythological figures. They became an extension of the chateaux that they surrounded, and were designed to illustrate the Renaissance ideals of measure and proportion.

Literature

Main article: French Renaissance literature

Music

Main articles:
French Renaissance music, Burgundian School, and Franco-Flemish School
Guillaume Du Fay (left) and Gilles Binchois

Burgundian style gave birth to the Franco-Flemish style of polyphony which dominated European music in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. However, by the end of the 15th century, a French national character was becoming distinct in music of the French royal and aristocratic courts, as well as the major centers of church music. For the most part French composers of the time shunned the sombre colors of the Franco-Flemish style and strove for clarity of line and structure, and, in secular music such as the chanson, lightness, singability, and popularity. Guillaume Du Fay and Gilles Binchois
are two notable examples from the Burgundian school during the early Renaissance period.

The most renowned composer in Europe,

Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 for the most magnificent musical entertainment; likely the event was directed by Jean Mouton, one of the most famous motet
composers of the early 16th century after Josquin.

By far the most significant contribution of France to music in the Renaissance period was the

Pléiade under Jean-Antoine de Baïf, the musical rhythm exactly matched the stress accents of the verse, in an attempt to capture some of the rhetorical effect of music in Ancient Greece (a coincident, and apparently unrelated movement in Italy at the same time was known as the Florentine Camerata). Towards the end of the 16th century the chanson was gradually replaced by the air de cour
, the most popular song type in France in the early 17th century.

The era of religious wars had a profound effect on music in France. Influenced by

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. However, not only Protestant composers were killed during the era of conflict; in 1581, Catholic Antoine de Bertrand, a prolific composer of chansons, was murdered in Toulouse
by a Protestant mob.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Renaissance in France.

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-500-20008-7
    .
  2. ^ Michelet, Jules (1847). History of France. Translated by Smith, G. H. D. Appleton & Company.
  3. ^ Brotton, Jerry (2002). The Renaissance Bazaar. Oxford University Press. pp. 21–22.
  4. ISBN 0-19-280163-5
    ..
  5. ^ Tanaka 1992, p. 90
  • Tanaka, Hidemichi (1992), "Leonardo da Vinci, Architect of Chambord?", Artibus et Historiae, 13 (25): 85–102,
    JSTOR 1483458

Further reading

External links
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