Francis I (1515-1547)
-Actively encouraged humanistic learning.
-Invited da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto to France.
-He collected paintings by the great Italian masters like Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
-Used a transitional technique in furniture construction where Italian Renaissance ornaments and elements laid on Gothic forms.
-Known for the variety of its ornaments, fancy motifs and graceful composition.
-It is during Francis' reign that the magnificent art collection of the French kings, which can still be seen at the Louvre, had begun.
-The windows in the Francis I style were square-headed. An occasional variation was the rounding of the shoulders. They were generally large, and divided vertically by a mullion crossed by a transverse mullion or transome, nearer the top than the bottom, thus forming a cross (fenetrecroisee). (This detail, however, chiefly appeared outside and did not affect the interior aspect.)Besides these, there were also in lesser number round-arched windows and windows with flat elliptical-arched tops.
-Door heads corresponded in shape of window heads and above the door heads, carved or sculptured decorations were often added. Significant for diverse and elegant structure of its embellishments and extravagant designs.
-He continued the work of his predecessors on the Château d'Amboise.
-Francios rebuilt the Louvre, transforming it from a medieval fortress into a building of Renaissance splendor.
-Early in his reign, he also began construction of the magnificent Château de Chambord, inspired by the styles of the Italian renaissance.
-Actively encouraged humanistic learning.
-Invited da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto to France.
-He collected paintings by the great Italian masters like Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
-Used a transitional technique in furniture construction where Italian Renaissance ornaments and elements laid on Gothic forms.
-Known for the variety of its ornaments, fancy motifs and graceful composition.
-It is during Francis' reign that the magnificent art collection of the French kings, which can still be seen at the Louvre, had begun.
-The windows in the Francis I style were square-headed. An occasional variation was the rounding of the shoulders. They were generally large, and divided vertically by a mullion crossed by a transverse mullion or transome, nearer the top than the bottom, thus forming a cross (fenetrecroisee). (This detail, however, chiefly appeared outside and did not affect the interior aspect.)Besides these, there were also in lesser number round-arched windows and windows with flat elliptical-arched tops.
-Door heads corresponded in shape of window heads and above the door heads, carved or sculptured decorations were often added. Significant for diverse and elegant structure of its embellishments and extravagant designs.
-He continued the work of his predecessors on the Château d'Amboise.
-Francios rebuilt the Louvre, transforming it from a medieval fortress into a building of Renaissance splendor.
-Early in his reign, he also began construction of the magnificent Château de Chambord, inspired by the styles of the Italian renaissance.
Henry II (1547-1589)
-Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I.
-His Style marks the very height and flower of the French Renaissance.
-The style showed Italian classic influence. The details borrowed from classic architecture (slender columns, cornices, moldings, friezes) had simple forms, superb proportion and balance.
-Windows to a great extent retained their mullioned and transomed divisions. Mullions and transomes were not always present , and square-headed windows without them and with two full-length casements were not uncommon. Round-arched windows also occurred to some extent.
-Panels inside shutters were used.
-Door heads were of corresponding shape to window heads and over-door decoration often took the form of a pediment, either rectilinear or arc-shaped, with appropriate accompaniments.
-First Rosso Fiorentino and then Francesco Primaticcio and Sebastiano Serlio served Henry II as court artisans, constructing the Aile de la Belle Cheminée (1568).
-The Château d'Anet, commissioned by Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, was designed by Philibert Delorme, who studied in Rome.
-In 1564 Delorme began work on the Tuileries, the most outstanding Parisian palais of the Henry II style. It too exhibited a mannerist treatment of classical themes, for which Delorm had developed his own "French order" of columns.
-Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I.
-His Style marks the very height and flower of the French Renaissance.
-The style showed Italian classic influence. The details borrowed from classic architecture (slender columns, cornices, moldings, friezes) had simple forms, superb proportion and balance.
-Windows to a great extent retained their mullioned and transomed divisions. Mullions and transomes were not always present , and square-headed windows without them and with two full-length casements were not uncommon. Round-arched windows also occurred to some extent.
-Panels inside shutters were used.
-Door heads were of corresponding shape to window heads and over-door decoration often took the form of a pediment, either rectilinear or arc-shaped, with appropriate accompaniments.
-First Rosso Fiorentino and then Francesco Primaticcio and Sebastiano Serlio served Henry II as court artisans, constructing the Aile de la Belle Cheminée (1568).
-The Château d'Anet, commissioned by Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, was designed by Philibert Delorme, who studied in Rome.
-In 1564 Delorme began work on the Tuileries, the most outstanding Parisian palais of the Henry II style. It too exhibited a mannerist treatment of classical themes, for which Delorm had developed his own "French order" of columns.
Louis XIII (1589-1643)
-Solid and immense construction.
-Rectilinear in shape and had simple and basic forms.
-Carving and turning were the most used technique.
-Louis XIII architecture was equally influenced by Italian styles. Influenced from the north, through Flemish and Dutch Baroque, and from the south, through Italian mannerism and early Baroque.
- In this style of decoration Baroque influences, and especially flemish Baroque influences, began to make themselves more and more noticeable.
-Windows were further increased in size, so that they extended nearly all the way from floor to ceiling.
-About the same time, also, stone mullions and transomes began to fall into disuse, being replaced by wooden substitutes or by wooden casement frames with broad stiles and rails.
-Jacques Lemercier completed the most famous work of the Louis XIII period is the chapel of the Sorbonne (1635) and also the Palace of Luxembourg for Louis mother.
-Solid and immense construction.
-Rectilinear in shape and had simple and basic forms.
-Carving and turning were the most used technique.
-Louis XIII architecture was equally influenced by Italian styles. Influenced from the north, through Flemish and Dutch Baroque, and from the south, through Italian mannerism and early Baroque.
- In this style of decoration Baroque influences, and especially flemish Baroque influences, began to make themselves more and more noticeable.
-Windows were further increased in size, so that they extended nearly all the way from floor to ceiling.
-About the same time, also, stone mullions and transomes began to fall into disuse, being replaced by wooden substitutes or by wooden casement frames with broad stiles and rails.
-Jacques Lemercier completed the most famous work of the Louis XIII period is the chapel of the Sorbonne (1635) and also the Palace of Luxembourg for Louis mother.