School of Fontainebleau (c. 1530 – c. 1610)

• Refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau.
• In 1531, the Florentine artist Rosso Fiorentino, having lost most of his possessions at the Sack of Rome in 1527, was invited by François I to come to France.
• In France he began an extensive decorative program for the Château de Fontainebleau.
• In 1532 he was joined by another Italian artist, Francesco Primaticcio (from Bologna).
• Rosso died in France in 1540.
• On the advice of Primaticcio, Niccolò dell'Abbate (from Modena) was invited to France in 1552 by François's son Henri II.
• Although known for their work at Fontainebleau, these artists were also invited to create works of art for other noble families of the period and were much esteemed and well-paid.
• The works of this "first school of Fontainebleau" are characterized by the extensive use of stucco and frescos, and an elaborate system of allegories and mythological iconography.
• Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, as well as a certain degree of eroticism.
• The figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian Mannerism of Michelangelo, Raphael and especially Parmigianino.
• The mannerist style of the Fontainebleau school influenced French artists such as the painter Jean Cousin the Elder, the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon, and, to a lesser degree, the painter and portraitist François Clouet the son of Jean Clouet.
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