Hôtel St-Pol

hôtel des Tournelles

Hôtel de Nesle

Palais de la Cité

Louvre

Early 16th century Paris

Vincennes

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 Italian Renaissance, 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

• 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.

Brunelleschi:

Foundling hospital in

Florence (1419)

• Quattrocento

architecture prefers

arcades of slender

columns carrying

arches and a

graceful lively

decoration

• 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 France 1515-1547

The king in 1527, by Jean Clouet (Louvre)

Leonardo da Vinci,

lived in Amboise at

Le Clos Lucé from

1515 until his dead

in 1519.

Constant struggle against Charles Quint

(Charles 5th) ruler of the Spanish Empire from

1516 and of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519

until 1556.

Blois (1515-24)

• reconstruction of the medieval castle

by Francis I :

• Staircases were given more

importance in French architecture

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

Galerie François Ier

Salle de bal

The Louvre before 1528 The Louvre in the 1570’s

The keep of the Louvre

demolished in 1528

Pierre Lescot (1500/15-1578)

He began the rebuilding of the

Louvre in 1546-78 – birth of the

French Classicism.

– French renaissance 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

Essentially decorative, his style is very French and entirely lacks the monumentality of his Italian contemporaries.

He had the great advantage of the sculptor Jean Goujon’s collaboration, and his ornamental detail is therefore of greatest refinement and delicacy.

Lescot’s wing

Fontaine des Innocents,

1546-1549

architect: Pierre Lescot

sculptor: Jean Goujon originally in the corner of the streets Saint-

Denis/rue aux Fers (today rue Berger)

Hôtel Carnavalet?

(1545-51)

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 Diane de Poitiers (1541-1563)

Henry II

1519-1559

Diane de Poitiers

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

Hôtel de Ville (1533-1628) -Started by Francis Ist Italian architect de Cortona

- works interrupted during the civic wars

- under Henry 4th, directed by Martin de La Vallée

French Renaissance Castle

entrance

Corner pavilion

wing

Court-yard

moat

terrace

Chimney shaft

Span or bay

Dormer window

cornice

niche moulding

pilaster

arcade