The
Ecole de Fontainebleau
(c.1530?c.1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late
Renaissance
centered on the royal
Palace of Fontainebleau
that were crucial in forming the French version of
Northern Mannerism
.
[1]
First School of Fontainebleau (from 1531)
In 1531, the Florentine artist
Rosso Fiorentino
, having lost most of his possessions at the
Sack of Rome
in 1527, was invited by
Francois I
to come to France, where he began an extensive decorative program for the
Chateau de Fontainebleau
. In 1532 he was joined by another Italian artist,
Francesco Primaticcio
(from
Bologna
). Rosso died in France in 1540. On the advice of Primaticcio,
Niccolo dell'Abbate
(from
Modena
) was invited to France in 1552 by Francois's son
Henri II
. Although known for their work at Fontainebleau, these artists were also invited to create works of art for other noble families of the period and were much esteemed and well-paid.
The works of this "first school of Fontainebleau" are characterized by the extensive use of
stucco
(moldings and picture frames) and
frescos
, and an elaborate (and often mysterious) system of
allegories
and
mythological
iconography. Renaissance decorative motifs such as
grotesques
,
strapwork
and
putti
are common, as well as a certain degree of eroticism. The figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian
Mannerism
of
Michelangelo
,
Raphael
and especially
Parmigianino
. Primaticcio was also directed to make copies of antique
Roman
statues for the king, thus spreading the influence of classical statuary.
Many of the works of Rosso, Primaticcio and
dell'Abate
have not survived; parts of the Chateau were remodelled at various dates. The paintings of the group were reproduced in
prints
, mostly
etchings
, which were apparently produced initially at Fontainebleau itself, and later in Paris. These disseminated the style through France and beyond, and also record several paintings that have not survived.
The
mannerist style
of the
Fontainebleau
school influenced French artists (with whom the Italians worked) such as the painter
Jean Cousin the Elder
, the
sculptors
Jean Goujon
and
Germain Pilon
, and, to a lesser degree, the painter and portraitist
Francois Clouet
the son of
Jean Clouet
.
Printmaking workshop
Although there is no certain proof, most scholars have agreed that there was a printmaking workshop at the Palace of Fontainebleau itself, reproducing the designs of the artists for their works in the palace, as well as other compositions they produced. The most productive printmakers were
Leon Davent
,
Antonio Fantuzzi
, and
Jean Mignon
, followed by the "mysterious" artist known from his monogram as "Master I♀V" (♀ being the
alchemical symbol
for
copper
, from which the printing plates were made),
[2]
and the workshop seems to have been active between about 1542 and 1548 at the latest;
Francois I of France
died in March 1547, after which funding for the palace ended, and the school dispersed. These were the first etchings made in France, and not far behind the first Italian uses of the technique, which originated in Germany.
[3]
The earliest impressions of all the Fontainebleau prints are in brown ink, and their intention seems to have been essentially reproductive.
[4]
The intention of the workshop was to disseminate the new style developing at the palace more widely, both to France and to the Italians' peers back in Italy. Whether the initiative to do this came from the king or another patron, or from the artists alone, is unclear. David Landau believes that Primaticcio was the driving force;
[5]
he had stepped up to become the director of the work at Fontainebleau after the suicide of
Rosso Fiorentino
in 1540.
[6]
The enterprise seems to have been "just slightly premature" in terms of catching a market. The etched prints were often marked by signs of the workshop's inexperience and sometimes incompetence with the technique of etching, and according to Sue Welsh Reed: "Few impressions survive from these plates, and it is questionable whether many were pulled. The plates were often poorly executed and not well printed; they were often scratched or not well polished and did not wipe clean. Some may have been made of metals soft as copper, such as
pewter
."
[7]
A broadening market for prints preferred the "highly finished textures" of
Nicolas Beatrizet
, and later "proficient but ultimately uninspired" engravers such as
Rene Boyvin
and
Pierre Milan
.
[8]
Notable artists of the first school
Second School of Fontainebleau (from 1594)
From 1584 to 1594, during the
Wars of Religion
the chateau of Fontainebleau was abandoned. Upon his accession to the throne,
Henri IV
undertook a renovation of the Fontainebleau buildings using a group of artists: the Flemish born
Ambroise Dubois
(from Antwerp) and the Parisians
Toussaint Dubreuil
and
Martin Freminet
. They are sometimes referred to as the "second school of Fontainebleau". Their late mannerist works, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of elongated and undulating forms and crowded compositions. Many of their subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by the Italian
Torquato Tasso
and the ancient Greek novelist
Heliodorus of Emesa
.
Their style would continue to have an influence on artists through the first decades of the 17th century, but other artistic currents (
Peter Paul Rubens
,
Caravaggio
, the
Dutch
and Flemish
naturalist
schools) would soon eclipse them.
Notable artists of the second school
Notes
- ^
Oxford Dictionary of Art
- ^
Jacobson, 80-83
- ^
Jacobson, 80-81; Landau, 308-309
- ^
Jacobson, 80-81
- ^
Jacobson, 95; Landau, 309
- ^
Jacobson, 79
- ^
Reed, 27
- ^
Landau, 309
References
- Jacobson, Karen (ed), (often wrongly cat. as
George Baselitz
),
The French Renaissance in Prints
, 1994, Grunwald Center, UCLA,
ISBN
0962816221
- Landau, David, in Landau, David, and Parshall, Peter,
The Renaissance Print
, Yale, 1996,
ISBN
0300068832
- Reed, Sue Welsh, in: Reed, Sue Welsh & Wallace, Richard (eds),
Italian Etchers of the Renaissance and Baroque
, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1989,
ISBN
0-87846-306-2
or 304-4 (pb)
See also
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Artists
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