French Renaissance sculpture

The French Renaissance is an artistic and cultural movement located in France between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 17th centu. Stage of modern times, the Renaissance appears in France after the beginning of the movement in Italy and its spread in other European countries.

For the sculpture, François Ier notably procured the services of Benvenuto Cellini whose art influenced all the 16th century French statuary. His other main representatives were Jean Goujon and Germain Pil.

The second half of the 16th century saw the Mannerist tempered style dominate, despite a strong tendency towards realism: the tomb of Henri II and Catherine de Medicis and the tomb of Cardinal René de Birague by Germain Pilon, whose ‘dramatic intensity sometimes reminds Michelangelo and announces the Baroque style.

The Right Family (or di Giusto di Betti)
Dynasty of sculptors, from the region of San Martino a Mensola, near Florence, the three brothers Giusto di Betti emigrated to France in 1504, following the intervention of Louis XII in Ita. They ended up being naturalized in 1513, under the French name of Just before becoming sculptors of the king.

They were with Francesco Laurana the most brilliant and active representatives of Italian Renaissance sculpture in Fran.

Antonio di Giusto di Betti or Antoine Juste (1479-1 September 1519), worked as early as 1507 at the tomb of Thomas James, bishop of Dol-de-Bretagne, an accomplishment completed in collaboration with his brother Jean Just. Very soon, he was called by Cardinal Georges d’Amboise on the site of his castle Gaillon (largely destroyed by the revolution); While making for the chapel a series of twelve apostles in terracotta, he executed a bust of the cardinal and a bas-relief representing the Battle of Genoa for the gallery of the palace; In collaboration with Michel Colombe’s studio, he continues the avant-garde work of the Upper Chapel 75 become a true ” manifesto ” of a new Renaissance style in sculpture. Antoine Juste then moved to Tours, where he brought marbles from Carrara to the tomb of Louis XII (1516. It is undoubtedly due to the bas-reliefs of this monument. The collaboration of Guido Mazzoni, is probable because this artist arrived in France since 1494 and was already active on the tomb of Charles VI.

Andrea di Giusto di Betti, André Juste (born about 1483), the second of the brothers, collaborates without doubt with his brothers for the establishment of the tomb of Louis XII, the basilica of Saint-Denis, although it is not not certain today that he has left Ital.

Giovanni di Giusto di Betti or John Just I (1485-1549) is the last of the brothers. Upon his arrival in France, he moved to Tours and spent several years in the studio of Michel Colom. He thus collaborates in the Entombment of the Abbey of Solesm. Discovering on this occasion, Claus Sluter’s work and Flemish realism. Jean Juste I then became one of the main actors of a new style in sculpture, mixing Flemish realism and the French gentleness called Style Louis X. After having completed the tomb of Thomas James alone, he went to the Basilica of Saint-Denis to install the mausoleum of Louis X. It is there that he would have executed the recumbent figures of the king and the queen, surmounted by their prayers, thanks to the indications of Jean Perreal, already active at the tomb of the Duke of Brittany François II and the tombs of the monastery of Brou : ” These recumbent statues, the most dramatic, represent the corpses seized in the throes of death, taken by the last spasms, the belly sewn by embalming, the mouths half-opened by the last rattle, the skin stuck to the skeleton, the breasts slumped, head thrown back for the queen. The statues of the Cardinal Virtues are rather attributed today to his nephew Juste de Juste, whom he also raises as his so. Jean Juste then executed the tomb of John IV of Rieulx, Marshal of Brittany, in Ancenis, then the tomb of Thomas Bohier, founder of the castle of Chenonceaux, in the Saint-Saturnin church of Tours, and finally the tomb of Louis of Crevent, abbot of the Trinity of Vendo. From 1532 to 1539, he made for the chapel of Oiron Castle, the tomb of Artus Gouffier, made at the request of his widow Hélène de Hangest, as well as that of her mother-in-law, Dame de Montmorency.

Jean Juste II (1510-1577), son of Jean Juste I, executed in 1558, for the church of Oiron, the tomb of Claude Gouffier, Grand Equerry of France, and his first wife, Jacqueline de La Trémoille ( destroyed in 1793) of which, unfortunately, only today remains the statue of Claude Gouffier ; his achievements after 1558, being largely destroyed. Later, Jean II Juste would have realized the tomb of Guillaume Gouffier, admiral of Bonnivet, killed in Pavia in 1525, then a fountain in white marble, for the gardens of the castle of Oiron, largely disappeared, remaining than a basi. It is in collaboration with the painter François Valence, that he participates in the realization of three arches of triumph and coordinates the devices of festival created in Tours on the occasion of the entry of the young king François II and his wife Marie Stuart (1560). This success allows him to spend a market on April 24, 1561 concerning the creation of a fountain, Place de la Foire-le-Roi: completed in 1562, it is now gon.

Philibert Delorme (1514-1570)
Born in Lyon, Philibert Delorme died in Paris in 1570. Coming from a family of masons, he was trained by his father, especially on the construction of the ramparts of Lyo. From 1533 to 1536, the future architect stayed in Rome where he acquired a solid technical knowledge and archaeological knowledge. The artist thus rubs shoulders with the scholarly milieu of the city and becomes friends with Cardinal Jean du Bellay (French ambassador in Rome.

Upon his return, then begin nearly thirty years of an intense professional life. In 1536, returned to Lyon, a friend of Cardinal du Bellay, the merchant Antoine Bullioud, entrusted him with the task of bringing together three independent building bodies surrounding a small courtyard, rue Juiver. The young architect builds a gallery with three bays in a basket handle vaulted with ridges resting on two hor. There are also some other minor Lyon achievements, but he does not stay long in his hometow.

It was then that his friend the cardinal entrusted him between 1541 and 1544 the conception of his castle of Saint-Maur-des-Foss. Manifesto of the French Renaissance, it is a quadrilateral inspired Italian vill.

His appointment as ” architect of the king ” by Henry II in 1548, allows him to keep, for eleven years, the absolute hold on the royal architecture, the Palace of the Louvre except confided to Pierre Lesco.

Philibert Delorme ensures the construction and maintenance of castles, utilitarian buildings, fortifications of Brittany, the order of feasts and admissions and the administration and financial control of the works. The superintendence exercised by the artist is a considerable event in the history of French architecture.

The architect also intervenes on the sites of the castle of Anet realized for Diane of Poitiers and the royal castle of Saint-Léger-in-Yvelin. It is for his greatest torment that he must occasionally intervene at Fontainebleau in collaboration with Primatice, Nicolò dell’Abbate and Scibec de Carp. He also carries out some works at the castle of Madrid, the Bois de Boulogne, Vincennes, Paris, Villers-Cotterêts, Coucy-le-Château, Chenonceaux, Limours and Boncou…

His pretensions and his vanity nevertheless attracted heavy enmities, including those of Pierre de Ronsard or Bernard Palis. During his career, Philibert Delorme will continue to accumulate profits (between 1547 and 1558, he receives five abbeys and has never held less than three at the same time until his death), not hesitating to Constantly soliciting from the King the assignment of offices and offices, perhaps to compensate for the shortfall of difficult projects which he regularly complains about.

While it was accused of malpractices, the death of King Henry II in July 1559 brought his disgrace, leaving the field open to the architect ‘s enemies; This is how he is removed from office for the benefit of the Prima. The princely clientele, however, will remain faithful to him in the adversity of which Diane de Poitiers who orders him the execution of works for his castle of Beyn. The rest of his life is devoted to the writing of theoretical treatises including the writing of a sum of architecture. He published, among other things, a complete treatise on the art of building [archive] (1567), followed by Nouvelles inventions for building well and at a small cost [archive] ( Paris, 1561). Delorme will not go beyond. At the end of his life, however, he found the way to the court, the regent Catherine de Medici entrusting him with the task of tracing the Palace of Tuileri.

Most of his works have unfortunately been almost destroyed over time. Only the hotel Bullioud (1536) remained in Lyon, parts of the castle of Anet he executed for Diane de Poitiers (1545-1555) and the tomb of Francis I at the Basilica of Saint Den.

Pierre Bontemps (c. 1505-1568)
French sculptor Pierre Bontemps is best known for the many funerary monuments he has carved and decorated.

Arrived at Fontainebleau from 1536, it is formed by contact with ancient works brought by Primati. In particular, he performs a cast of the Laocoon and another of the Apollo Belvede. In 1548, he was part of the team of sculptors led by Philibert Delorme for the tomb of Francis I at the Basilica of St. Den.

The recumbent figures of King and Queen Claude are the result of his collaboration with François Marcha. From 1549 to 1551, he cuts alone the praying statues of Dauphin François de France and his brother Charles II of Orlea. He is also entirely responsible for the bas-reliefs decorating the base of François I’s tomb, representing with remarkable precision the battles that took place under his reign, such as the victories of Marignan and Cérisol. The preparations for each battle are detailed (passage of the Alps) and the main characters individualized: Francis I is recognized by his monogram or Knight Baya.

In 1556, Pierre Bontemps was once again at Fontainebleau where he gave for the fireplace in the king’s room a bas-relief of the Four Seaso. He then executed, for the convent of Hautes-Bruyères ( Yvelines ), the marble monument intended to contain the heart of Francis I. The urn is decorated with allegorical bas-reliefs to the glory of the arts and sciences, which, thanks to the sovereign, have taken over an important place in the kingdom.

He still owes the funerary statue of Charles de Maigny ( around 1557 ), preserved in the Louvre Museum and the tomb of William Bellay at the Cathedral of Le Ma.

Pierre Bontemps seems to have been rather a specialist in decorative bas-relief, very popular at the time of the flourishing of the First School of Fontainebleau ( 2nd quarter of the 16th century), a great creator round-bu. The sensuality and delicacy of the female figures is reminiscent of the Mannerist style that Primatice applies to the stuccoes of Fontainebleau (small elongated heads and necks, sketched and harmonious gestures). If the graceful and delicate art of Bontemps is impregnated with Italian spirit, it is tempered by the concern for precision in the arrangement of the decor and by the picturesque costumes.

Jean Goujon (1510-to 1567)
Jean Goujon was probably born in Normandy around 1510 and died in all likelihood in Bologna.

Nicknamed the “French Phidias ” or ” The Correggio of Sculpture”, Jean Goujon is with Germain Pilon the most important sculptor of the French Renaissanc.

As much a sculptor as an architect, he is one of the first artists whose work is directly inspired by Italian art and the Italian Renaissance, which he studied personally in Ita. He was able to submit his sculptural work, especially his bas-reliefs, to the architectural setting in which she had to register.

Despite the wealth of his artistic output, Jean Goujon’s career can only be followed for twenty years, from about 1540 to 156. Present in Rouen, between 1540 and 1542, he executed his first preserved works. For the organ gallery of Saint Maclou Church, he carves two columns that are still in place. First example in France of a very pure Corinthian order, they reveal Jean Goujon’s perfect knowledge of ancient art. He is also credited with the design of the tomb of Louis de Breze (1531) in the cathedral of Rouen, and the architecture of the Saint-Romain chapel, popularly called la Fierte (1543).

Arrived in Paris around 1542, he probably works under the direction of the architect Pierre Lescot, as “image maker” at the rood screen of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois (1544 at Christmas 1545. The architectural ensemble disappeared as early as 1750, but the bas-reliefs of the Four Evangelists and the Deposition of Christ, generally known as the Virgin of Mercy, sculpted by the artist have survived and are preserved today in the Louvr. A Parmesan print depicting Entombment inspired Jean Goujon for the composition of the Deposition of Chri. This is the proof that Italian art has influenced him directly, without the intermediary of the art of Fontaineble. The ” wet drapery ” and the parallel folds of the reliefs of the rood screen reveal the style of an artist attached to the ancient art, and more exactly to the Hellenistic ar.

In 1545, Jean Goujon worked for the Constable Anne de Montmorency and realized The Four Seasons (1548 to 1550) for the hotel of Jacques de Ligneris, cousin of Pierre Lescot 88, now Carnavalet Muse.

From 1547, the artist enters the service of the new King Henr. He will work with other scuptors to decorate the entrance of the king in Paris in 1549, creating the only permanent work: the famous fountain of the Innocen. His bas-reliefs, representing nymphs and naiads, are today in the Louvre Muse.

At the same time, Jean Goujon worked as a “master sculptor” under “the drawings of Pierre Lescot, lord of Clagny ” 88 decorations of the Palais du Louv. Between 1548 and the beginning of 1549, he completed his allegories of War and Peace before being commissioned to perform the allegories of History, Victory and Fame and Glory of the Ki. Shortly after, he directed the Cariatides of the platform of musicians, completed in 1551, in the room namesake of the Palais du Louv. In 1552, he carved statues for the fireplace of the Attic cabinet located in the west wing and finally, in 1555-1556, some bas-reliefs of the staircase of Henry I.

He is generally credited with the engravings of the French version of Francesco Colonna’s Dream of Poliphile (1546), based on the engravings of the original edition (perhaps due to Andrea Mantegna’s studio). He should also woodcuts illustrating the first French edition of Ten Books of Architecture Vitruvius, translated in 1547 by Jean Mart. He also made valuable medals for Catherine de Medi.

The Diana leaning on a stag (around 1549), also known as Diane de Poitiers’ Fountain of Diana at Anet Castle, was successively attributed to Benvenuto Cellini, Jean Goujon and Germain Pil. All these attributions have been contested or refuted. It is difficult to judge the work that was largely completed by Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet before his installation at the Louvre Museum in 1799-1800. Alexandre Lenoir, director of the Museum at that time, is the author of the attribution to Jean Gouj.

We do not know the precise date of the artist’s death. Protestant religion, his employment at the court of France and even his presence in Paris became difficult as religious tensions increased. A stubborn legend has it that Jean Goujon was murdered during St. Bartholomew’s D. If this had been the case, he would have been cited a posteriori as part of the famous martyrs of the drama, which was not the case. The story of his tragic death, however, was repeated in many works of art criticism and popularization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. More recent research found its trace in the Huguenot refugee community of Bologna in 1562.

Jean Goujon certainly had a workshop and students who helped him. His figures are oval, sensual and fluid. His draperies reveal a knowledge of Greek sculptu. Spread throughout France by engravings made by artists from the Fontainebleau School, the purity and grace of its model have influenced the decorative ar. Its reputation at the end of the 16th century, a slight eclipse in favor of more fashionable trends, before growing again in the era of Baroque and French classici.

Germain Pilon (1525 / 30-1590)
Germain Pilon, born about 1528 in Paris and died in 1590 in the same city, is with Jean Goujon, one of the most important sculptors of the French Renaissan. Participating notably in the realization of the tombs of the last Valois, these works testify of his belonging to Manneris.

Son of the sculptor André Pilon, he began to learn from him, and probably with Pierre Bontemps, the modeling of terracotta and stone carving. None of André Pilon’s creations has yet been preserved, so that one can not appreciate his style. Some orders, however, reveal his predilection for statues in painted wood and for terracotta. While he is appointed controller of the Punches and Coins of the King, Germain Pilon also learns the art of cast iron and bronze casting.

In 1558, he was commissioned by the Superintendent of the Buildings of the King, Philibert de l’Orme, to carve eight “funeral geniuses” or “Fortune figures”, destined for the tomb of Francis I, which Philibert de l’Orme built at that time. St. Denis Basili. It is on this occasion that Germain Pilon, then young, realizes a white marble statuette which constitutes his first known work. This Funeral Genius (photo) strongly recalls Michelangelo’s sculpture and testifies to the virtuosity of Germain Pilon in printing the movement. It will not however be retained to decorate the royal tomb and is today exposed to the National Museum of the Renaissance Ecou.

On the death of Henry II, the Primate obtained the office of Superintendent of Buildings and decided to retain Germain Pilon among his collaborators. For the castle of Fontainebleau, the artist shapes wooden statues, executed under the direction of the Italian master whose style was now very familiar. It is only with Henri II’s Monument du coeur (photo) ( Louvre ) that one discovers in all its fullness the art of the sculptor. The monument he designed consists of a decorated pedestal, supporting three female characters supporting a funeral urn on their heads. Germain Pilon owes most of the work of sculpture, including the execution of the three allegorical statues in which we can see both the Three Graces and Theological Virtu.

It is still under the control of the Primatice that Germain Pilon creates his next works. When Catherine de ‘Medici built a mausoleum in a rotunda at the abbey church of Saint – Denis, Germain Pilon is among the artists responsible for carved decoration. He participates first of all in the realization of the tomb of the deceased king and the queen, next to other sculptors like Girolamo della Robbia and Master Pon. However, most of the work ends up with hi. He is the author of the recumbent, praying, two bronze Virtues and two marble reliefs belonging to the edicu. It is in the recumbent statue of the queen, an imitation of an antique statue now called Venus of the Medici, that it frees itself most of its ties, perhaps because it had been engaged there. The prayers reveal a great freedom of movement and a very personal reproduction of the physiognomy that shows that Germain Pilon abandoned Late Gothic for Renaissance art.

From 1570, Germain Pilon, now very busy, had a large workshop in Par. Among his achievements of the moment have been preserved the Virgin of Notre-Dame-de-la-Couture ( Le Mans ) and the main sculptures of the tomb of Valentine Balbiani (died in 1572. In this tomb, which combines Italian and French elements, the deceased is represented, according to French tradition, in two aspects. Valentine Balbiani, dressed in a sumptuous costume, half extended, leaning on one elbow and flipping through a book, corresponds to an Italian type already well known in France before Germain Pilo. For all that, according to the French tradition, the bas-relief placed below presents the deceased as lying with a realism so impressive that it places the work in the tradition of the transis “cadaverous” of the medieval French sculptur. Today, most of the tombs executed by Germain Pilon are no longer known only by ordering documents or sketche.

In 1572, the artist obtains the office of “general controller of effigies at the court of the Coin. He was then given the series of medallions with effigies of the members of the royal family as well as various busts in marble and bronze, among which distinguish that of Charles IX and that of Jean de Morvillie. In the last ten years of his life, while he is appreciated by the French aristocracy, he has a vast workshop: the abundance of orders and the realization of the 380 masks of the Pont Neuf, obliges him to add his sons, as well as collaborators such as Mathieu Jacquet dit Grenoble, who ensure the success of Germain Pilon’s style over several decade.

Until about 1585, Germain Pilon is occupied by new marble sculptures for the funeral chapel of Valois de Saint Den. A pathos and a new dramatism characterize then the last years of production of the sculpto. We will notably remember the Christ of the Resurrection with two Roman soldiers ( Louvre ), a Saint Francis of Assisi ( Cathedral Sainte-Croix of Paris Armenians ) and two new funerary statues of Henry II and Catherine de Medici, represented this time in recumbent figures ( Saint-Denis ). The Virgin of Mercy, the last realization of the whole, borrows from the iconography scenes of depositions of the cross or entombment, her veil falling forward of the face as well as her hands crossed on the chest. In the tomb of René de Birague, made around 1583, Germain Pilon takes the medieval tradition by painting the bronze of the praying while making disappear almost entirely the body of the deceased under the ample coat with the deep folds whose long tail is today disappeared. In the last years of his life, the bronze relief of the Deposition of Christ (now preserved in the Louvre ) is inspired by the Deposition of Christ executed around 1544 by Jean Goujon ( Louvre ).

Hugues Sambin (1520-1601)
Hugues Sambin is an artistic figure characteristic of the Renaissance by the variety of his centers of interest and by the extent of his talents. He exerted a lasting influence on the ornamental repertoire of his time.

Like many artists of his time, Hugues Sambin (1520-1601) combines many qualities: carpenter (this term refers to the artisans who build the furniture), sculptor, hydraulic engineer, architect, decorator and engraver.

Although he worked everywhere in France, he quickly established himself in the East of France, mainly in Dijon and Besançon during the second half of the 16th century (where he obtained the title of fi cient architect ) He then appears as one of the few personalities in the region able to propose plans for the construction of fortifications ( Salins-les-Balins, Dijon ) or projects for various urban projects: He is credited with particular houses in Dijon including Hotel Fyot-de-Mimeure (1562), the Maillard House (1561) or the Scrin Gate of the former Parliament of Burgundy (1580). Despite these commitments, the artist manages to keep an intense activity in the manufacture of furniture of which several examples are still exposed in museums. However, there are relatively few items on his life and a number of works are attributed to him without being authenticated with certainty: a two-door wardrobe at the Decorative Arts of Paris and the Louvre Museum ( around 1580), the Gauthiot d’Ancier table at the Besançon Museum of Time and two other pieces of furniture at the Ecouen Renaissance Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in New Yo.

Born in Gray around 1520 to a carpenter father, from the Burgundy Empire or Franche Comté, he began very early on the art of joinery and carpentry, as well as architecture. During the year 1544, the artist works in the team of carpenters of the castle of Fontainebleau, under the direction of the Primatice, and especially with the designer Sebastiano Serlio, who use in particular the Italian technique of ” designo.

It is as a result of this experiment that the young companion can be a trip to Italy, because it will show a perfect knowledge of ultramontane sculpture and architecture.

Returned to Dijon in 1547, he married the daughter of Jean Boudrillet, master carpenter, which he took again, a few years later, in 1564, the practical direction of the workshop after being received in the meantime master carpenter. He will also be sworn by the corporation several times. At the time, the most prosperous activity of the Boudrillet workshop remained the manufacture of furniture and cupboards which, under the influence of Hugues Sambin, were to be designed according to the graphic codes of ” designo “as a true ” encyclopedia of architecture ” of his tim. Recognized, the artist becomes one of the leader in the art of furniture Burgundy, especially active for rich sponsors of Burgundy and Franche-Com. Thus in 1550 the city of Dijon ordered three statues for the triumphal entry of the Duke of Auma.

Continuing his activity as a sculptor, he completed shortly before 1560, the completion of a work on the Last Judgment, designed to adorn the central portico of the Saint-Michel church in Dijon, later becoming, in 1564, superintendent and conductor work carried out for the reception of King Charles IX in Dij.

Nevertheless, it seems that the death of his father-in-law in 1565 made him lose the technical control of the carpentry workshop: Maistre Sambin then diversifies his activity as an individual, probably away from the workshop Boudrillet, where he will only work occasionally. From now on, more and more frequently away from Dijon, he regularly works as an individual as “draftsman, ornamentalist, engineer, architect.

Passing through Lyon in 1572, he published an important collection of 36 engraved plates, entitled “Work of the diversity of terms used in architecture” note 1, which shows an unbridled imagination, still represents today a remarkable work of classification of architectural orders according to the ancient model. His activities mimed some years to the Spanish Netherlands, then being hired as a sculptor and carpenter by the governor of Luxembou. Thus its influence will affect not only the painters of Burgundy and Lorraine, but also of southern Germany, but also architects and decorators, like Joseph Boillot or Wendel Dietterlin note.

In 1571, the artist seems to return momentarily to France-Comté then to Burgundy where he will receive the title of architect of the city of Dij. In 1581, the governors of Besançon ordered him the courtyard facade of the former Parliament of Besançon (current courthouse ), which he oversaw the tasks between 1582 and 1587, while simultaneously making the plans of the roof to ‘imperial tower cross of the collegiate Notre-Dame de Beaune 95, made between 1580 and 1588.

We can conclude that Hugues Sambin will remain strongly influenced, throughout his career, by his passage in the teams of Fontaineble. The ornamental system developed by the Rosso and Primatice especially in the François I gallery, explodes literally in all of his work. Marked forever by this short stay Bellifontain, its Burgundian roots are none the less present, expressing in particular its predilection for certain regional ornaments such as the famous “cabbage bourguignon” or the use of foliage ivy in place of the traditional acanthus motif.

At the same time, the terms (sculpted architectural elements, made up of a human bust ending in a sheath ) drawn and sculpted by Hugues Sambin, were a great success in France in the second half of the 16th century, particularly in France. furniture from Lyon, which comes from then very similar, from the decorative point of view, furniture Burgundy: a true “Sambin style” was born, marking the second half of the 16th centur.

It is through comparisons made with his collection that the artist has not only been attributed to any piece of furniture mixing terms with an accumulation of ornamental motifs, but also, by extension, any architecture with an exuberant deco. However, it still has great difficulty to prove the orders or works made by Hugues Sambin and his studio, because they were imitated or copied shamelessly including the nineteenth century under the name of “Style Henry II.

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