hôtel des Tournelles

Vincennes Hôtel de Nesle

Hôtel St-Pol

Early 16th century

Palais de la Cité The Italian word rinascimento (rebirth) was already used by 15th cent. Italian writers to indicate the restoration and reintroduction of Ancient Roman standards,

notably the orders.

Today the word Renaissance means, first of all, Italian art and architecture from

1420 (Brunelleschi) to the mid-16th cent.

In countries other than Italy the Renaissance started with the adoption of Italian

Renaissance motifs, but the resulting styles have little in common with the qualities

of the , which are a sense of stability and poise as well as

Ancient Roman forms and ornament. The organization of the exterior space is commanded by the proportions of the Antic orders

• ORDER: in classical architecture, a column with base, shaft & capital and entablature with architrave, frieze & cornice decorated and proportioned according to one of the accepted modes: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian (Greek) Tuscan, Composite (Roman) Superposition of the three orders: always a less decorated below a more decorated

• Colosseum in Rome (69-79 AD): – ground-level doric – First level ionic – Second level corinthian For the introduction of the Renaissance, Florence took precedence over Rome

Brunelleschi: Foundling hospital in Florence (1419) • Quattrocento architecture prefers arcades of slender columns carrying arches and a graceful lively decoration

• Renaissance architecture in Italy is characterized by harmony, clarity and strength. It features the use of classical motifs and the architectural orders, or columns styles, of Antiquity. • The earliest example of a systematic use of Quattrocento pilasters occurs at the Château de Gaillon (1502-10), close to Rouen, constructed by the cardinal Georges d’Amboise

• outlaying of ornaments mixing gothic and

Italian renaissance fluted half columns.

Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau (1518-1527) constructed for Gilles Berthelot • a regular composition of the French castle with the majestic italian inspired staircase occupying the central span and with regular registers of windows ; but the upper part is still medieval: • towers and curtain walls crowned by false crenelation supported by consoles; • a part of the building in the river, a natural moat. Chenonceaux (1515-24), constructed for Thomas Bohier

• The oldest part: different from usual French castles in the plan: one building regroups all the spaces: – squared plan surrounded by four towers – chapel and cabinet hanging over the river – central corridor that ends up on a small balcony dominating the river (today in the gallery). • The bridge over the river constructed in the 1550 by Philibert de l’Orme • the upper galleries constructed about 1560 by Jean Bullant

Francis 1st (1494-1547) king of 1515-1547

Constant struggle against Charles Quint (Charles 5th) ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1516 and of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 until 1556.

Leonardo da Vinci, lived in Amboise at Le Clos Lucé from 1515 until his dead in 1519. The king in 1527, by Jean Clouet (Louvre) Blois (1515-24)

• reconstruction of the medieval castle by Francis I :

• Staircases were given more importance in of the 16th cent than was usually the case in Italian palaces of the same period.

• the large open stone staircase replaces a tower; four storey decorated with pilasters, balustrades, salamanders … Chambord (1519-47) • a central keep surrounded by towers and a lower rempart • the corner towers are reminiscent of the defensive architecture of medieval castles • the donjon is divided by a cross-shaped entrance hall with in each corner an apartment, the crossing is occupied by the staircase an ingenious double-spiral staircase in the center (possibly inspired by drawings of Leonardo da Vinci) and tunnel-vaulted corridors to north, south, west and east

Francis 1st Fontainebleau

The transformation of a medieval fortress into

a Renaissance castle started in 1528

Italian masters working in

France for the king:

Rosso from Florence(1594-1540)

Primaticcio (1504-1570) from

Bologna Salle de bal

Galerie François Ier The keep of the Louvre demolished in 1528

The Louvre before 1528 The Louvre in the 1570’s (1500/15-1578)

He began the rebuilding of the Essentially decorative, his style is He had the great advantage of the Louvre in 1546-78 – birth of the very French and entirely lacks the sculptor ’s collaboration, French Classicism. monumentality of his Italian and his ornamental detail is therefore contemporaries. of greatest refinement and delicacy.

– manner in the decoration: Corinthian and Composite orders, – plastic sculpted façade – vertical composition in five sections – Ground-floor very sober decoration, richer on the first floor and abundant in the attic Lescot’s wing , Hôtel Carnavalet? 1546-1549 (1545-51) architect: Pierre Lescot sculptor: Jean Goujon originally in the corner of the streets Saint- Denis/rue aux Fers (today rue Berger) Philibert de l’Orme (1500/15-1570)

• French architect born in Lyon, son of a master mason

• He spent three years in Rome, probably 1533-6

• His buildings are notable for their ingenuity and sometimes outrageous experimentations: he introduced the dome

• Almost everything that he built has been destroyed, only some fragments of important compostions have survived

• Had a great influence on the development of French architecture through his books: Nouvelles inventions (1561) and Architecture (1567) The castle of Anet constructed for (1541-1563)

Henry II Diane de Poitiers 1519-1559 1499/1500-1566 The chapel 1549-52 Le Palais des Tuileries constructed for the queen Catherine de Medicis architects: Philibert de l’Orme and Jean Bullant from 1564 -Started by Francis Ist Italian architect de Cortona Hôtel de Ville (1533-1628) - works interrupted during the civic wars - under Henry 4th, directed by Martin de La Vallée French Renaissance Castle

Court-yard

Chimney shaft

Corner pavilion

entrance

moat terrace wing Dormer window

cornice

niche moulding

pilaster

arcade Span or bay