French Renaissance architecture
Years active | Late 15th – early 17th centuries |
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French Renaissance architecture is a style which was prominent between the late 15th and early 17th centuries in the
This style of
The major architects of the style included the royal architects
History – the Italian period
During the
Thus, from 1443 to 1453, the main building of the Château de Montsoreau is built on the Loire river banks by Jean II de Chambes, diplomat in Venice and in Turkey and private counselor of King Charles VII. Between 1465 and 1469, Louis XI ordered the construction of the Château de Langeais at the end of the promontory, a hundred meters in front of the 10th century dungeon.[4] In 1494,
Château de Montsoreau (1450–1461)
In 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII authorized the construction of the Château de Montsoreau by Jean II de Chambes, then diplomat in Venice and Turkey and private adviser to the king. It was built on the site of the ancient fortress of Foulques Nerra, unusually, directly on the Loire river bank in the style of Venetian Renaissance. Its architecture is of transition between military and pleasure architecture and bears witness to the time when castles became châteaux. The main building was built in 1453 and in an unprecedent manner, two square pavilions were added between 1453 and 1461, anticipating the classical architecture by several decades. Jean III de Chambes built or transformed the grand stairway tower in the Italian style in 1510–1515, its carvings are similar to the ones of the gate-house of Château de Gaillon.[6]
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Plan of Montsoreau by Marquis de Geoffre
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Aerial view of the site
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Loire facade of the château
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Grand stairway Renaissance tower (circa 1510)
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High lucarnes flanked by pinnacles on the roof
Château d'Amboise (1491–1498)
In 1491, before the Italian campaign, Charles VIII had begun rebuilding the
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Plan of Château d'Amboise by Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau
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The Château beginning the transition from Medieval to Renaissance (1491–98)
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Renaissance ornamental pilaster attached to the medieval Tour Heurtault
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The wide bays opening on the terrace were a Renaissance feature
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Gardens of the Château
Château de Gaillon and Château de Bury
Not all the architectural innovation took place in the Loire Valley. Georges d'Amboise was archbishop of Rouen, but also the chief minister for Italian affairs for both Louis XII and Charles VIII. Between 1502 and 1509 he largely redecorated his residence in the valley of the Seine, the Château de Gaillon, in the Italian style. He acquired a fountain, marble medallions from Genoa, sculpted frontons and pilasters with seashell ornamentation, and various architectural elements from Italy and used them in the chậteau. Gradually, the decoration transformed the château from a medieval fortress to an elegant Renaissance residence. Most of the Château was demolished in the 19th century, but some portions remain and some of the decoration is now on display in the Musée national des Monuments Français in Paris.[8]
The Château de Bury, another medieval castle (since demolished), was constructed beginning in 1511 by Florimond Robertet, a state secretary and treasurer for both Charles VIII and François I. Following the new style, it was designed for living, not for fighting. It was perfectly symmetrical, with four round towers, around a central
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Window decoration of Château de Gaillon
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Italian Renaissance window decoration in Château de Gaillon (1502–1509)
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Château de Bury (begun 1511)
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau (1518–1527)
As the French Court settled in Loire Valley, the courtiers and ministers built or rebuilt palatial residences nearby. The
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Château d'Azay-le-Rideau (1518–1527)
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The grand stairway of the Château, the centerpiece of the facade
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Window with a lucarne, raised above the roof and framed with sculpted pilasters, characteristic of French Renaissance style
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Coffered ceiling of the grand stairway
Château de Blois (1519–1536)
The
The arrival of
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Château de Bloiscourtyard facade with circular stairway and lucarnes along the roof
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A sculpted salamander, the emblem ofFrançois I, on the facade of the north wing
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Roofline decoration and lucarne of the François I wing
Château de Chambord (1519–1538)
The
The plan of the Château is that of a medieval fortress, with round towers on the corners and massive keep or central tower, but the exuberant ornament is purely early French Renaissance.[13][14] The facade has pilasters at regular intervals, balanced by horizontal bands of relief sculpture. The roof is bristling with lucarnes, chimneys and small towers. The interior is symmetrical; the large central open space had as is centrepiece, the double spiral stairway. Ornament inspired by northern Italy predominates in the interior, in the form of a vaulted ceiling with carved decoration in each vault; sculpted capitals on the columns; and cul-de-lampes, or sculpted decoration on the base of columns and arches where they met the wall.[15]
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Facade of the Château de Chambord (1519–1538)
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The double-spiral stairway at Chambord
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A lucarne or dormer window at Chambord
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Sculpted vaulted ceiling at Chambord
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Detail of the roof of Chambord, with lucarnes, chimneys, and small towers around the central lantern tower
The Château de Fontainebleau
After he was released from his captivity in Spain in 1526, François I decided to move his court from the Loire Valley to the
The architect the King chose for Fontainebleau was Gilles Le Breton. Work commenced in 1528 with the remodeling of the medieval oval courtyard. The 12th-century tower was preserved, and a new residential block was constructed, its facade ornamented with pilasters and high windows with lucarnes and with triangular frontons, which became a signature feature of the new style. The old medieval chatelet, or gatehouse, was replaced by a new structure, the Porte Dorée, which was composed of grand loggias one above the other, modeled after the palaces of Naples and Urbino.[17]
The second phase was new courtyard, the Cheval Blanc, with three long wings constructed of brick and moellons et enduit, a mixture of rubble and cement, which became a common combination in French Renassiance architecture. The round medieval towers of the old château were replaced by square pavilions with high roofs and lucarne windows. The third phase was a new gallery to connect the old and new buildings. The decor of this new gallery was created by a Tuscan craftsman, Rosso Fiorentino. who arrived in 1530. The final new project was a grand stairway on the oval court leading up the royal apartments. It had a portico with classical columns resembling a triumphal arch. The design of this stairway was not borrowed from Italy, but copied directly from classical Roman models. It was a sign of the beginning of more originality in French Renaissance architecture.[18][17]
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The Porte Dorée, or gatehouse, with large loggias one above the other, and lucarne windows with triangular frontons
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The François I Gallery at the Palace of Fontainebleau (1533–1539)
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An elephant by Rosso Fiorentino, illustrating the mixed sculptural and painted decoration in the François I Gallery of Fontainebleau
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The horseshoe stairway was originally built for Henry II byPhilibert Delorme between 1547 and 1559, then rebuilt for Louis XIII by Jean Androuet du Cerceauin about 1640.
Beginning in 1530, the group of Italian artists imported by François I, led by
Following the death of Francis I in 1547, his successor King
Other châteaux of François I period
François I began other châteaux in the Paris region, The biggest and most impressive was the
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Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, reconstructed by François I beginning in 1539
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Decoration of the portal of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
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Facade of the Château de Madrid, begun 1527, completed 1552, demolished 1792
Second period – Classical influence
Characteristics
The second period of French Renaissance architecture commenced in about 1540, late in the reign of François I, and continued until the death of his successor
The features of this period included the greater use of the ancient Classical orders of columns and pilasters, preceding from the most massive to the lightest. This meant starting at the bottom with the Doric order, then the Ionic, then the Corinthian on top. The order used on each level determined the style of that level of the facade. Philibert Delorme went further and added two new orders to his facades: French Doric and French Ionic. These columns were regular Doric and Ionic columns decorated with ornamental bands or rings.[23]
The second period featured also a wide variety of decorative plaques and sculptural decoration on the facades, usually borrowed from ancient Greek or Roman models. These included the
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Doorway design byPhilibert Delorme
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FrenchPhilibert Delorme
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Plan of thePhilibert Delorme(1547–1550)
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Stone reliefs of nymphs
from the Fountain of the Innocents -
Drawings for Lescot Wing of the Louvre by Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau
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Pan for Bulant Pavilion at the Tuileries Palace by Jean Bullant (1564)
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Bas relief by Jean Goujon, Hôtel de Sully, Paris
Château d'Anet (1547–1552)
The
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Engraving of the Château d'Anet, by Jacques-Androuet du Cerceau
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Gatehouse of the Château d'Anet, with sculpture of stag and hunting dogs
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Portico of principal facade, showing the three classical orders (now atEcole des Beaux-Artsin Paris)
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Inside of the spiral-coffered dome of the chapel
Château d'Écouen (1538–1550)
The Château d'Écouen, designed by Jean Bullant, features the classical orders on the portico on its western facade. it was inspired by the portico of the Pantheon in Rome. The columns of the facade rise all the way to the roofline. The interior is also remarkable, with some of the original ceramic tile floor still in place and highly decorated fireplaces. This château is now the French National Museum of the Renaissance.[21]
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The Château d'Écouen (1538–1550), now the French National Museum of the Renaissance.
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Classical portico on the south facade of the Château d'Écouen (1538–1550)
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Fireplace in the Grand Hall of the King, Château d'Écouen (1538–1550)
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Ceramic floor tiles of Château d'Écouen (1538–1550)
Lescot wing of the Louvre (1546–1553)
One of the last commissions of François I, given just a year before his death, was the reconstruction of a part of the Louvre Palace, built by Charles V, in order to make it more comfortable and palatial. The project was undertaken by Pierre Lescot, a nobleman and architect, and was modified by the new King, Henry II, who added a new pavilion on the southwest to serve as his residence. The result was a skillful blend of Italian and French elements. The facade featured arcades on the ground level in the Italian style, and was divided by three avant-corps decorated with sets of twin Corinthian columns and topped with consoles with rounded frontons. These vertical elements were balanced by the strong horizontal bands marking the floors, and by the gradual and subtle change of the ornament on each level, representing the three classical orders of architecture. [25] To avoid monotony, the frontons of the windows alternated between triangles and rounded arches. The top floor did not have a high roof lucarnes, like most other French Renaissance buildings; it was composed instead of alternating windows and sculptural decoration, beneath a new kind of roof, the called a comble brisé, which had two different angles of slope. It was crowned with a ridge of ornament.[26]
The sculptural decoration on the facade, by Jean Goujon was especially remarkable. On the two lower levels, it was discreet, composed of inlays of polychrome marble and medallions with sculpted garlands. However, on the attic or top floor, he lavishly covered every part of the wall with sculptures of slaves, warriors, trophies, and mythical divinities, representing in classical style the military triumphs of France.[25]
Inside the
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Lescot's facade as illustrated in Les plus excellents bâtiments de France (1576)
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West facade of the Lescot Wing
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Caryatides supporting the musical tribune by Jean Goujon
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Coffered ceiling of Henri II stairway of Lescot Wing
Hôtel d'Assézat (1555–1556 and 1560-1562)
The
Pierre Assézat, a wealthy
After Bachelier's death in 1556 the construction work stopped; it was restarted in 1560 under the direction of Dominique Bachelier, son of Nicolas. He undertook the creation of the loggia and the passageway, which divided up the courtyard, and the street gate. Much polychrome interplay (brick/stone) and various ornaments (cabochons, diamonds, masks) evoke luxury, surprise and abundance, themes peculiar to Mannerist architecture.[28]
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The courtyard and the staircase tower (1555-1557)
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The gate of the staircase
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Fluted and filleted columns
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Doric, Ionic and Corinthian capitals
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Influence on the capitals of an engraving by Serlio
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Influence on the facades of an engraving by Serlio
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Influence on the portal of an engraving by Serlio
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Carved decoration of a door
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Polychromatic interplay with brick and stone
Religious architecture
The Renaissance had less influence on French religious architecture; cathedrals and churches, for the most part, continued to be built or rebuilt in the
The Church of
One of the finest religious monuments of the French Renaissance is the tomb of François I and his wife Claude de France, located within the
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Interior of Saint-Eustache, Paris
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Rood screen of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (1530–1545)
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Facade with classical orders of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (1530–1552) in Paris
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Tomb of François I and Claude of France (c. 1547–61)
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South portal of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs (1559) in Paris
Last projects
After the death of King
Catherine de Medici also imposed the Italian style at Fontainebleau, with the construction of a new wing, the Aile de la Belle Chiminée (wing of the beautiful chimney). The facade was designed by Francesco Primaticcio and featured a combination of Italian and French elements; pilasters, statues in niches, a high roof with lucarnes, a central frontispiece resembling Italian church architecture, and two diverging stairways.
The second plan of the Château de Verneuil (since demolished) by the young architect Salomon de Brosse (1576) was another landmark of the late French Renaissance style. It was commanded by Henry IV of France. Its symmetry, corner pavilions, twin pilasters, discreet roof, absence of lucarnes and its rotunda at the entrance made it a concise summary of the French Renaissance style at the end of the 16th century.[31]
Catherine de Medici also commissioned additions to the Château de Chenonceau. The bridge over the Cher river had been built by Philibert Delorme. After his death in 1570, Catherine asked Jean Bullant to build a picturesque gallery (1576) atop the bridge. A much larger ensemble of buildings around the bridge was planned by Bullant, but was never built.[32]
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The Wing of the Belle Cheminée of the Château de Fontainebleau, by Francesco Primaticcio (1559–1600)
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Bridge of the Château de Chenonceau by Philibert Delorme and then Jean Bullant (1576)
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Design for the Château de Verneuil byJacques Androuet du Cerceau(1576)
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Facade design for garden wing of Tuileries Palace designed by Philibert Delorme
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The later plan of Jean Bullant for a pavilion of the Tuileries Palace
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Fragment of Delorme's garden wing of the Tuileries Palace, now in the garden of the Palais de Chaillot
See also
- Renaissance architecture
- Châteauesque
- Châteaux of the Loire Valley
- Renaissance architecture of Toulouse
Citations
- ^ Ducher 1988, p. 80.
- ^ Mignon 2017, pp. 193–235.
- ^ Ducher 1988, p. 80–92.
- ^ "Le Val de Loire Siège du pouvoir Royal - Charles VII et Louis XI". UNESCO - Mission Val de Loire. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 199.
- ^ Congrès archéologique 2003, p. 255.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 201.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 204.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 204–215.
- ^ Mignon 2017, pp. 210–211.
- ^ Ducher 1988, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Mignon 2017, pp. 212–214.
- ^ Ducher 1988, p. 84.
- ^ Cropplestone, Trewin (1963). World Architecture. Hamlyn. p. 254
- ^ Ducher 1988, p. 82.
- ^ Mignon 2017, pp. 216–217.
- ^ a b Mignon 2017, pp. 218–219.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 219.
- ^ Ducher 1988, pp. 86–88.
- ^ Salmon, p. 9.
- ^ a b Mignon 2017, pp. 218–224.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 159.
- ^ a b c Ducher 1988, p. 88.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 233.
- ^ a b Ducher 1988, p. 90.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 230.
- ^ Mignon 2017, p. 231.
- ^ a b c Explanatory comments of Toulouse Renaissance exhibition (2018), Colin Debuiche.
- ^ a b Texier 2012, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Ducher 1988, p. 94.
- ^ a b c Mignon 2017, p. 234–235.
- ^ Mignon 2017.
Bibliography
- Ducher, Robert (1988). Caractéristique des Styles (in French). Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-011539-1.
- Mignon, Olivier (2017). Architecture du Patrimoine Français - Châteaux de la Renaissance (in French). Éditions Ouest-France. ISBN 978-2-7373-7611-5.
- Renault, Christophe; Lazé, Christophe (2006). Les Styles de l'architecture et du mobilier (in French). Gisserot. ISBN 9-782877-474658.
- Salmon, Xavier (2011). Fontainebleau- Vrai demeure des rois, maison des siècles (in French). Versailles: Artlys. ISBN 978-2-85495-442-5.
- Texier, Simon (2012). Paris - panorama de l'architecture de l'Antiquité à nos jours (in French). Paris: Parigramme. ISBN 978-2-84096-667-8.
- Litoux, Emmanuel (2003). Congrès Archéologique de France (in French). Paris: Société Française d'Archéologie.