{"id":19073,"date":"2013-05-23T15:14:35","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T13:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=19073"},"modified":"2017-10-20T14:53:22","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T12:53:22","slug":"french-legend-fontainebleau-from-henry-ii-to-henry-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-legend-fontainebleau-from-henry-ii-to-henry-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"French Legend: Fontainebleau from Henry II to Henry IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tel p\u00e8re, tel fils<\/strong><\/em><\/span> (as father, as son), says the popular adage.<\/p>\n

We previously saw<\/a><\/strong> how the father, in this case\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Ier<\/strong><\/span><\/em> (or Francis I<\/strong> in English), was le responsable num\u00e9ro 1 <\/strong><\/em>of introducing la Renaissance<\/strong><\/em><\/span> to France, by inviting the likes of Rosso Fiorentino<\/strong><\/span> and le Primatice<\/strong><\/span><\/em> to his court.<\/p>\n

There, the Italian masters launched what was to be known as l’\u00c9cole de Fontainebleau<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, the most celebrated art school of the time.<\/p>\n

The son of Francois Ier, the French King Henri II<\/strong><\/span><\/em> (spelled “Henry<\/strong><\/em><\/span>” in English)\u00a0continued the architectural work initiated during his father’s reign.<\/p>\n

However, the son seemed to favor the local main-d’\u0153uvre <\/strong><\/em>(workforce.)<\/p>\n

Most of his court artists operated under the aegis of Philibert Delorme\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>(also spelled\u00a0De l’Orme<\/strong><\/em>), who distinguished himself in decorating his father’s tomb at the Saint Denis Basilica<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Delorme paid a first visit to Fontainebleau<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in 1548<\/strong>. He was tasked to start working there immediately after.<\/p>\n

A large part of the palace, including la salle de bal <\/em><\/strong><\/span>(the ball rooom) that can still be visited today, is entirely his doing.<\/p>\n

From the union with\u00a0Catherine de Medicis<\/strong><\/span>, the not-so-easy-to-handle “femme fatale<\/em><\/strong>” (pictured on the left), Henri II<\/strong><\/em> had eight children.<\/p>\n

Six of them came to the world in Fontainebleau, while the other two were born in\u00a0Saint-Germain-en-Laye<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, where Delorme was commissioned to build its Ch\u00e2teau Neuf<\/strong><\/em><\/span> (literally “New Castle”), later the birthplace of the spoiled\u00a0“Sun King” Louis XIV<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At least two of the Fontainebleau children turned out to be French King material: Fran\u00e7ois II<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, the eldest who was named after his grandpa, and Henri III<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, who was obviously named after his daddy.<\/p>\n

Only two days after the accidental death (or now was it?) of her king-husband, Catherine de Medicis sent good old Delorme packing.<\/p>\n

The reason is often said to be that Delorme was the\u00a0prot\u00e9g\u00e9<\/strong><\/em> of Catherine’s all-time\u00a0b\u00eate noire<\/strong><\/em>, Diane de Poitiers<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, for long the King’s “favorite.”<\/p>\n

Like Catherine, the man who replaced Delorme hailed from Italy. His French name is le Primatice<\/strong><\/em>, just mentioned above.<\/p>\n

Primaticcio<\/strong><\/em> (that would be his Italian name), enjoyed the precious assistance of a skilled craftsman named Niccol\u00f2 dell’Abbate<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, whose remarkable\u00a0paysage <\/strong><\/em>(landscape) work is said to have yielded at least a partial influence upon Nicolas Poussin<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

But things did not always go as planned by Catherine de Medicis, especially after she died.<\/p>\n

Her son, Henri III<\/strong><\/em>, who spent very little time in the Fontainebleau of his early youth, suffered a tragic demise. He died childless, victim of a ruthless assassination plot.<\/p>\n

This spelled the end for the Valois dynasty<\/strong><\/span>, which reigned over France for more than two centuries.<\/p>\n

Who was next?<\/p>\n

Henry of Navarre<\/strong><\/span> took over, thus establishing the dynasty of Bourbon<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Now called Henry IV<\/strong><\/span>, the French King nurtured a keen interest in the artistic makeover of Fontainebleau.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the example set by his old predecessor on the throne, Francois Ier<\/strong><\/em>, he launched a Second School of Fontainebleau<\/strong><\/span>. Unfortunately, nearly everyone agreed that this new\u00a0\u00c9cole <\/strong><\/em>paled in comparison with the original.<\/p>\n

Undaunted, Henry IV directed his sight outside of the palace. There, he created a large wooded park filled with trees of various species.<\/p>\n

He also dug a vast canal, where people still go fishing to this day.<\/p>\n

Other than that, the King was such an avid fan of Tennis<\/strong><\/span> (known then as le<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0jeu de paume<\/em><\/strong><\/span>) that he built in the palace what is still one of the largest Tennis courts\u00a0au monde <\/em><\/strong>(in the world), if not the largest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Tel p\u00e8re, tel fils (as father, as son), says the popular adage. We previously saw how the father, in this case\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Ier (or Francis I in English), was le responsable num\u00e9ro 1 of introducing la Renaissance to France, by inviting the likes of Rosso Fiorentino and le Primatice to his court. There, the Italian masters…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":23689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[275897,275901,275906,24475,275875,65768,65766,275905,250036,275891,275895,275900,275899,65792,275908,275896,275889,9229,275885,275902,275909,275904,275888,275907,275910,275903,275898],"class_list":["post-19073","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-bourbon","tag-catherine-de-medicis","tag-chateau-neuf","tag-femme-fatale","tag-fontainebleau","tag-francis-i","tag-francois-ier","tag-francois-ii","tag-french-history","tag-french-renaissance","tag-french-tennis","tag-henri-ii","tag-henri-iii","tag-henri-iv","tag-italian-renaissance","tag-jeu-de-paume","tag-lecole-de-fontainebleau","tag-louis-xiv","tag-niccolo-dellabbate","tag-nicolas-poussin","tag-philibert-delorme","tag-primaticcio","tag-rosso-fiorentino","tag-salle-de-bal","tag-tel-pere-tel-fils","tag-the-second-school-of-fontainebleau","tag-valois"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t