29/10/07 - Architectural History - French Renaissance 1500-1600

Between 1494-1525 the French went on a campaign to invade Italy. The Gothic style reached its height in the fifteenth century, while Italy was ahead of this in terms of perfection, particularly with Bramante's Tempietto of 1508. King Francois I decided to emulate and surpass the achievements of Italian culture, but despite his keenness, the process was gradual, and spread over five hundred years.

The key architects and masons of the French Renaissance were: Domenico da Cortona, Gilles le Breton, Sebastiano Serlio, Pierre Lescot, Philibert de l'Orme, Primaticcio, Jean Bullant and Jacques Androuet du Cerceau the Elder.

The major chateaux of the time were situated on the Loire Valley and in the area around Paris.

It may seem unlikely, but the Chateau at Gaillon, 1508, emulates the Tempietto. It has classical pilasters placed atop each other to give a classical appearance. This was the humble beginning of the French Renaissance movement.

Chenonceau, begun in 1515, exemplified the beginning of an orderly and structured French Renaissance style. Italian straight staircases did not suit the French very well, as they tended to build Gothic spiral staircases. The building as a whole is square and simple.

The chateau at Bury is more sophisticated. The buildings are arranged around a central courtyard, with a main facade called a corps-de-logis.

Classical elements were used by the French for their visual effects rather than for accuracy. Azay-le-Rideau (1518-27) has an ordered facade with classical elements integrated into more grand aspects such as windows.

Francois I's chateau at Blois shows a clear horizontal design, with classical pilasters interspersed between windows. It demonstrates a more integrated use of the classical language. The courtyard staircase, for instance, is three-dimensional, sculptural and expressive. It is much more decorative and idiosyncratic than any Italian Renaissance building. The north-west facade has a certain depth and monumentality yet it uses classical detail more accurately than the staircase. Its finesse, structural skill and decoration was praised, but an Italian writer criticised the chateau for poor use of Classical language.

The chateau at Chambord (begun 1519)is a political statement of French authority. It was built at Francois' hunting lodge. It was designed from scratch on a virgin site, so it is more regular in design than any previous French architecture - or perhaps it owes its regularity by its Italian architect, Domenico da Cortona. It is partitioned into four sections, which later became the standard design of French architecture. It is however still very French: the roofline is triangular and prickly and busy, which is an architectural feature singular to France. One of the chimneys could almost pass for an antique salvage. The chateau has a double-helix staircase, or rather, two staircases which intertwine around each other. It is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Gilles le Breton, in Fontainebleau has a west gate (La Porte Doree) that takes remnants from the chateau at Gaillon, such as pedimented windows and the use of pilasters.

Cour du Cheval Blanc at Fontainebleau (1528-40) signified a new type of French chateau. It has a jutting pavilion, bi-axial symmetry and overruling order. The application of exterior classical motifs continues inside.

The chateau at Villandry (1532) is another example of a coherent ensemble. Its roofline is straight and more Italian although still not entirely free of the old French roofline.

By the 1540s France rejected Italian architecture, mainly because of Sebastiano Serlio's treatise of architecture. Serlio was the designer of the chateau at Ancy-le-France. It is in a sense very Italian, because it is completely regular and proportioned with the correct use of Classical language. But the high-pitched French roof and other French details were included that had been unforeseen by Serlio. He designed the Doric Order to be used for the courtyard, but someone else saw fit to put Ionian columns there instead.

Pierre Lescot was the architect of the Louvre's square court. The design is distinctly Classical. There is much sculpture to create a lively and delicate surface, something that the French were good at. Here the fusion of French and Italian architectural features works well.

The French architect Philibert de l'Orme was the first to study Italian architecture at length. He travelled to Rome and published a treatise of nine bodies, called simply Architecture, in 1567. In it he proposed a new set of French orders. They are superficially similar to the Italian orders, but they have added decoration that makes them look closer to Mannerism than High Renaissance.

The chateau at St Maur was de l'Orme's and France's first attempt to decorate a building completely in one order. It consists of a single storey of rooms around a central courtyard.

The chateau of Anet (before 1550) by de l'Orme has a three-storey pavilion entranceway with the correct use of Roman orders. He was more learned by this stage and applied the classical principles accurately. The dome of the chapel was based on a basilica. He used the idea of the circle as perfection and therefore made the chateau the ideal place to worship God. Inside, the dome is spectacularly decorated with the emphasis on play of light. As a result of all his efforts, de l'Orme was hailed as the greatest French architect.

The architect Primaticcio brought the most mature form of classicism to France. He was more Italian than any other French architect had managed. De l'Orme's tomb of Francois I is proper and traditional while Primaticcio's tomb of Henry II is more powerful, muscular and manneristic.

Jean Bullant was one of the confident French architects of new design. He designed the chateau at Ecouen. He is indebted to de l'Orme, but developed a style more sophisticated than ever. He leans towards mannerist style. His Petit Chateau at Chantilly (c.1560) is more adventurous. The arch pushed into the pediment. He shows an equal degree of flair and fancy. He had the idea of adding new buildings like wings, to create a trapezoidal shape.

Cerceau the Elder designed Charleval, a chateau with windows pushing through the entablature, a building with a frieze and rusticated details. After designing the chateau c. 1570, exuberance gave way to soberness and maturity in the Place des Vosgues, begun in 1605, and Solomon de Brosse of 1616.