FRENCH RENAISSANCE

History of Architecture 2

RIZARE | ROCAMORA | RODRIGUEZ | SAEP

CONTENTS
● GEOLOGICAL ● ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS /
STYLES PER PERIOD
● CLIMATE
○ EARLY PERIOD (FRENCH RENAISSANCE)
● GEOGRAPHICAL ■ Country Houses
■ Palaces
● SOCIAL ■ Churches

● RELIGION ○ CLASSICAL PERIOD

■ Country Houses
● FRENCH RENAISSANCE PERIODS ■ Palaces
■ Churches
Kings from:
○ ROCOCO AND NEO-CLASSICAL PERIOD
○ French Renaissance ■ Country Houses
○ Classical Period ■ Palaces
○ Rococo and Neoclassical Period ■ Churches
CLIMATE
The climate of France varies from
temperate to subtropical, from north to
south.

The variation regulates the size of door and

window openings which become small in
south.

The pitch of roofs, steep in the north, to

throw off snow, becomes almost flat in the
south.
GEOGRAPHICAL

It is a country in Western Europe. It is one of only three countries (with Morocco and Spain)
to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Is the largest country in Western
Europe and the European Union
RELIGION
There was a lot of religious tension during
this time between the Catholics and the
Protestants. The split between the two
groups was newly formed, beginning in
1517 with Marten Luther.

France became a battleground between

the Catholics and the Calvinists, a conflict
that ended only after the edict of Nantes in
1598 granted tolerance to French
Protestants. St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, 1572
ARCHITECTURE AND PERIODS
FRENCH RENAISSANCE
French Renaissance Architecture
A style that was prominent between the 15th and early 17th centuries
in the Kingdom of France. It succeeded French Gothic architecture.

Charles VII of France

The Italian Renaissance began to
influence French art when Charles
VII returned (1496) from his
conquest of Naples accompanied
by several Italian artists and
architects.
 Three Periods of French Renaissance

Early Period or French Renaissance (1494 - 1610)

1ST
The special character of this transitional period lies in the combination of Gothic and Renaissance
features to form an attractive ensemble, while in Italy, a return to classic forms took place.

A period of transition which Renaissance details were grafted onto such Gothic features as flying
buttresses and pinnacles.

The Kings during the Early Period

Charles VIII Louis XII Francis I Henri II Francis II Charles IX Henri III Henri IV
(1470-1498) (1498-1515) (1515-1547) (1547-1559) (1559-1560) (1560-1574) (1574-1589) (1589-1610)
 Three Periods of French Renaissance

Classical Period (1610 - 1715)

2ND The period is notable for the dignity, sobriety and masculine quality of its foremost buildings, resulting
from the subordination of plan, composition and detail of the unity of the whole, and the charity and
simplicity with which the elements were used.

Ornament, though somewhat course, is vigorous and reasonably restrained.

The Kings during the Classical Period

Louis XIII (1610 - 1643) Louis XIV (1643 - 1715)

 Three Periods of French Renaissance

Rococo and Neoclassical Period (1715 - 1830)

3RD A movement in architecture, design and the arts which was dominant in France between about 1715
to 1830. It emerged as a reaction to the frivolity and excessive ornament of the baroque and rococo
styles.

In architecture it featured sobriety, straight lines, and forms, such as the pediment and colonnade,
based on Ancient Greek and Roman models.

The Kings during the Classical Period

Louis XV (1715 - 1774) Louis XVI (1774 - 1792)

Rococo Style
Rococo - a type of Renaissance ornament in which rock-like
forms, fantastic scrolls, and crimped shells are worked up
together in a profusion and confusion of detail often without
organic coherence but presenting a lavish display of
decoration.
KINGS WHO HAD THE GREATEST
INFLUENCE IN THE FRENCH
RENAISSANCE ART
● FRANCIS I ● HENRY II ● LOUIS XIII
Francis I Style (1515 - 1547)
● He succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who
died without a son.

● A phenomenal patron of the arts

● He collected paintings by the great Italian masters like Titian,

Raphael, and Michelangelo.
Francis I Style (1515 -1547)

WINDOWS
● Square-headed types of windows

● They were generally large and divided

vertically by a mullion crossed.

● Lesser number of round-arched

windows and windows with flat
elliptical-arched tops.

Chateau de Amboise
Francis I Style (1515 -1547)
DOORS

● Corresponded in shape of window heads

● Carved or sculptured decoration was
often added

● Significant for diverse and elegant

structure of its embellishments and
extravagant design.

Chateau de Chambord
Francis I Style (1515 -1547)

Louvre City Hall (Hotel de Ville)

● Francis rebuilt the Louvre ● Financed the building of the City Hall
Francis I Style (1515 -1547)
● The largest building project of Francis I

● Has housed rulers for over 8 centuries

● Referred as the “House of Ages” by Napoleon

Chateau de Fontainebleau
Henry II Style (1547-1589)
● 2nd son of Francis I and Claude De France

● Born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye,

near Paris

● marks the very height and flower of the French

Renaissance, the climax to which all previous
development was only preparatory

● Showed Italian classic influence and fully developed

French Renaissance
Henry II Style (1547-1589)
Exterior:
● The details borrowed from classic architecture (slender
columns, cornices, moldings, friezes)
● Had simple forms, superb proportion and balance.

Windows:
● Retained their Mullioned and Transomed divisions,
but they were not always present
● Square-Headed Windows and Round-arched
windows
● Two full-length Casements
● Panels inside shutters were used

Doors:
● Door heads: corresponding shape to window heads and
over-door decoration often took the form of a pediment,
either rectilinear or arc-shaped, with appropriate
accompaniments.
 Aile de la Belle
Cheminée in
Chateau de
Fontainebleau

● First Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio and Sebastiano Serlio served Henry II as court artisans, constructing the
Aile de la Belle Cheminée
● The wing of the Belle Cheminée, also called wing of the Old Comedy, built between 1565 and 1570 stone Saint-Leu, takes
its name from the fireplace that occupied the great room in the eighteenth century
● Commissioned by Diane de
Poitiers, mistress of Henry
II
Château d'Anet
● Designed by Philibert
Delorme
● Incorporates a set of
devices to establish an
association between Diane
and Diana, the roman
goddess of Hunt
● Crescent moon, bow and
arrow, and Diane’s own
initial.
Palais des Tuileries / Tuileries
Palace
● In 1564, Philipe Delorme began work on the
Tuileries
● Jean Bullant, and Jacques du Cerceau. Louis Le
Vau, in the 17th century, also contributed to the
structure.
● Adjacent to the Louvre in Paris
● Commissioned by Catherine Medici
● the most outstanding Parisian palais of the
Henry II style
● Delorme had developed his "French Ionic
order" of columns.
Louis XIII Style (1589-1643)
● Father of the People or French Père du Peuple
● Son of Charles, and Marie de Clèves
● Also known as the Louis Treize, a fashion in
French art and architecture
● 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
Exterior:
Louis XII Style (1589-1643)
● Solid and immense construction.
● Rectilinear in shape and had simple and basic
forms
● Carving and turning were the most used
technique.

Windows:
● Windows were further increased in size, so that
they extended nearly all the way from floor to
ceiling.
● 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)

● The dome and ceiling

painted by Philippe de
Champaigne
The Sorbonne Chapel
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
/ STYLES PER PERIOD
Country Houses, Palaces, and Churches
in Early, Classical and Neo-classical Period
COUNTRY HOUSES IN EARLY PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
CHÂTEAU DE CHAMBORD (early period)

● designed by Domenico de
Corton
● was built in the countryside
in the style of a fortified
castle within a bailey or
outer wall, thus neatly
overlaying Renaissance
symmetry and detailing on
a fundamentally medieval
building type
CHÂTEAU DE CHAMBORD (early period)
● Chambord has 440 room, 84
staircases, 365 fireplaces and
800 sculpted capitals.
● One of the architectural
highlights is the ornate roof,
and the feature that makes
Chateau de Chambord so
instantly recognisable.
● At a glance the roof is
symmetrical but look closer
and you will see that is not
the case
CHÂTEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU (early period)
One of the largest French royal
châteaux.

The medieval castle and subsequent

palace served as a residence for the
French monarchs from Louis VII to
Napoleon III.

Francis I and Napoleon were the

monarchs who had the most
influence on the Palace as it stands
today. It is now a national museum
and a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
CHÂTEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU (early period)
Doors, windows, and stairways are important
features.

Large, prominent chimneypieces are focal

points.

It does not have classical proportions, but

entablatures, pilasters, and columns shape the
overall design.

Decoration is concentrated on the floors,

walls, and ceilings. Room use is flexible and
has few furnishings.

Beamed ceilings are embellished with carving

and/or brightly colored stripes, arabesques, or
other repeating motifs.
CHATEU DE AMBOISE (early period)
The Château Royal d'Amboise isn't one
of the largest castles in the Loire Valley

Dramatically located on a rocky spur at

the confluence of the Amasse and Loire
rivers, it was where French kings were
brought up.

From Charles VII to Louis XIV, France's

rulers all passed through. Perhaps only
the Louvre has seen such a parade of
French monarchs, and Amboise certainly
stands above all other French castles.
CHATEAU DE ANET (early period)

It is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by

Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of
France.
CHÂTEAU DE BLOIS (Early Period)
The Château de Blois (1519–1536) was originally begun by Louis XII of France, cousin and successor to Charles VIII.

The original design was more medieval than Renaissance; only the pillars and decorated capitals of the columns on the
courtyard, and the sculpture in light relief, showed the Italian influence.

Each wing was built in a different period of history and has a different architectural style.
 EXTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE BLOIS

Courtyard facade with circular stairway

and a sculpted salamander on the Roofline decoration and lurcane of the François I wing
facade
INTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE BLOIS

The salon has two aisles, with a double barrel-vaulted ceiling and numerous columns and arches. The tapestries on the
walls date back to the 17th and 18th century.

Various rooms are filled with mouldings and sculptures from different wings of the chateau.

The Queen's Gallery is particularly attractive with its long wall of windows opposite a wall of portraits and with a decorated
wooden roof and blue tiled floor.
 CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU (Early Period)

A French château spanning the River Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux
in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France.

In 1515 Thomas Bohier began the construction of the Château de

Chenonceaux.Unfinished at the time of his death, construction of the château was
completed by Bohier’s wife and son.
EXTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU

Approach to the entrance of Chateau de Chenonceau View of the west facade

EXTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU

Garden of Catherine de Médicis

restored by Bernard Voisin
INTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU

The entrance hall which is covered with a The small chapel A ballroom that is lit by 18 windows, with
series of rib vaults whose keystones its sandly chalk tiled and slate floor and
exposed joist ceiling
INTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU

The fireplace is engraved with the initials of Henri II

Staircases built in France on the Italian model
and Catherine de Medicis, H and C
PALACES IN EARLY PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
PALAIS DU LOUVRE, PARIS (Early Period)
Originally a fortress built in the medieval period, it became a royal palace in the fourteenth century under Charles V and
was used from time to time by the kings of France as their main Paris residence.

The present-day Louvre Palace is a vast complex of wings and pavilions on four main levels which, although it looks to be
unified, is the result of many phases of building, modification, destruction and restoration.
PALAIS DU LOUVRE, PARIS (Early Period)

Court facade of the Lescot Wing, engraved West facade of the Lescot Wing c. 1560,
South facade
by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, 1576 elevation drawing by architect Henri
Legrand (1868)
PALAIS DES VOSGES, PARIS (Early Period)
Originally known as the Place Royale, the Place des Vosges was built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612.

It is the oldest planned square in Paris, France, and is located in the Marais district, and it straddles the dividing-line
between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris.
EXTERIOR | PALAIS DES VOSGES

The steeply-pitched blue slate roofs are pierced with discreet

small-paned dormers above the pedimented dormers that stand
upon the cornices.

The housefronts were all built

of red brick with strips of
stone quoins over vaulted
arcades that stand on square
pillars.
Arcades
PALAIS DES TUILERIES (Early Period)
The Tuileries Palace was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine. It was the
usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III, until it was burned by the Paris
Commune in 1871.

Since the destruction of the Tuileries, the Louvre courtyard has remained open and the site is now the location of the
eastern end of the Tuileries Garden, forming an elevated terrace between the Place du Carrousel and the gardens proper.
HISTORY OF PALAIS DES TUILERIES (Early Period)
Tuileries Palace before 1871, view from the Louvre After the 1871 fire and before the demolition of 1883

Catherine de Medici sold the medieval Hôtel des Tournelles, where her husband, Henry II of
France, had died, and began building the palace of Tuileries in 1564, using Architect Philibert de
l'Orme.

The finalization of the long planned Louvre-Tuileries complex was not to happen because of the
fire that thoroughly gutted the palace. The demolition was started in February 1883 and completed
on 30 September 1883.
INTERIOR | PALAIS DES TUILERIES

State rooms of the Tuileries Palace before 1871 The Great staircase of Palais des Tuileries
JARDIN DES TUILERIES (Early Period)
The Tuileries Garden (French: Jardin des Tuileries) covers 22.4 hectares.

Originally designed in 1564 as an Italian Renaissance garden by Bernard de Carnesse, the Tuileries Garden was
redesigned in 1664 by Le Nôtre as a jardin à la française, which emphasized symmetry, order, and long perspectives.
PALAIS DES TUILERIES (Early Period)

Palais Des Tuileries

(1564 - 1871)

Reconstruction of Palais
Des Tuileries
CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
COUNTRY HOUSES IN CLASSICAL
PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
CHÂTEAU DE MAISONS

● Designed from 1630 to 1651 by Francois Mansart

 INTERIOR

● The Grand Ballroom ● The Grand Staircase

PALACES IN CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
HOTEL DE SULLY

● Façade facing the rue Saint-Antoine

FIRST COURTYARD

● Symbolic carving by Jean

Goujon
● Left: Fall; Right: Winter
 SECOND COURTYARD

● North façade, facing the garden; Second Courtyard

CHAPELS IN CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
CHAPEL OF THE SORBONNE
● is a Roman Catholic chapel located in the Sorbonne
historical site, in Paris' Latin quarter.
DETAILS
OF THE
FACADE
DOME AMPHITHEATHER
DOME OF LES
INVALIDES

● Proposed by Louis XIV in 1670 as a home for

"invalids”
● 107 meters high (351 ft)
● The inside of the dome was painted by
Charles de La Fosse, disciple of eighteenth
century well-known French painter, Charles
Le Brun.
● NAPOLEON’S TOMB ● FERDINAND FOCH TOMB

● VAUBAN MEMORIAL
ROCOCO AND NEO-
CLASSICAL PERIOD
FRENCH RENAISSANCE
 ROCOCO
(1650-1790)

● rocaille, shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial

grottoes.
● more elaborate version of Baroque architecture
● lightness, elegance, and an exuberant use of curving, natural forms in
ornamentation
● originated in Paris in the early 18th century
● Soon adopted in other countries Germany and Austria
● first manifested itself with interior design and decorative work
● Rococo style has elaborate curves and scrolls
● Serpentine Design Work
● asymmetry and predisposition to lighter, pastel, or gold-based color
palettes.
● the lines are curvaceous (‘S’ curve), and the decoration is excessive.
● produced flowing, giddy, visually spectacular carving
 NEO-CLASSICAL
(1730-1925)

● Neo-classical from the word new

● Influenced by Renaissance
● can be seen in important government buildings (US)
● Neoclassical ideas was influenced by music, theater,
literature and visual arts
● Neoclassical were symmetrical in shape
COUNTRY HOUSES IN ROCOCO
AND NEO- CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
EXTERIOR | CHÂTEAU DE CHANTILY

● .

● By architect
Jean Bullant Courtyard

Garden
INTERIOR | Salon de Monsieur le Prince

● decorated● by
. Jean Aubert

● In French, the word salon

simply means living room or
parlor, and Rococo salons
refer to central rooms that are
designed in the Rococo style.
EXTERIOR | HOTEL DE SOUBISE

● .

The external facade is characterized by a dramatic central projection

Architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair
INTERIOR | Salon De La Princess at Hotel de Soubise

The room is uniquely featured with sinuous curved, gilded

moldings and mirrors, small sculptures and paintings, and
floral ornamentation. The artist intentionally represents the
room as the center of Parisian and intellectual life. Interiors by Germain Boffrand
PALACES IN ROCOCO AND NEO-
CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
PALAIS DU LUXEMBORG (Rococo and Neo-Classical)

● Luxembourg Palace, is situated at 15 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris

● Architects: Salomon de Brosse (1615-1645) the palace was meant to be the royal palace for the mother of Marie de'
Medici.
● Following the French Revolution, the palace was refashioned and transformed into a legislative building by another
great French architect Jean Chalgrin (17990 1805)
PALAIS DU LUXEMBORG (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
● modeled after Palazzo Pittiin
Florence at the request of Marie
de Médicis.

● Floor plan (1752) shows the

large enclosed cour d'honneur
(three-sided ceremonial
courtyard) and the long
Rubens gallery in the right wing

● he created a neo-classical
escalier d'honneur in the west
wing, a single monumental flight
enclosed by an ionic
colonnade and covered with a
coffered barrel vault
PALAIS DU LUXEMBORG (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
● The new wing included a library
(bibliothèque) with a cycle of
paintings

● Ceiling of the Library painted with

Eugene Delacroix’ Dante Inferno

● Beginning in 1835 the architect

Alphonse de Gisors added a new
garden wing

● the 1850s, at the request of Emperor

Napoleon III, Gisors created the
highly decorated Salle des
Conférences (inspired by the Galerie
d’Apollon of the Louvre).
PALAIS DE VERSAILLES (Rococo and Neo-Classical)

● Located in Northern France (10 miles away from

Paris)

● served as French royalty’s estate and as a

national government center

● Architects of the Versailles

Louis Le Vau (1612 – 11 October 1670)

André Le Nôtre (12 March 1613 – 15

September 1700)

Ange-Jacques Gabriel (23 October 1698 – 4

January 1782)
PALAIS DE VERSAILLES (Rococo and Neo-Classical)

Breakdown of rooms inside the Versailles:

a) Queen’s apartments
b) King’s apartments
c) Hall of Mirrors
d) Chapels
e) L’Opera
f) Museum
g) Gardens
h) Grand Canal
i) Walks
j) Additions
k) Chambers
PALAIS DE VERSAILLES (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
Hall of Mirrors
● central gallery of the Palace - 17 mirror-clad
arches reflecting the 17 windows

● A total of 357 mirrors

● the ornamentations - the canvases along the

ceiling that celebrate the apotheosis of the
king, the polychrome marbles, the gilt
bronzes (by Charles Le Brun)

Royal Opera
● designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel
● 1200 guests
● The rooms were decorated with mural
painting
PALAIS DE VERSAILLES (Rococo and Neo-Classical)

King’s Private Chamber

● Located at the middle of the palace

● First floor is reserved for the King and

Queen’s apartment (in North and South
wing)
PALAIS DE VERSAILLES (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
DECORATIVE ELEMENTS

● Gilding
-decorating Stucco Arabesques Painted Vaults Trompe-l'œil Or Optical Illusion
objects in gold
leaf
CHURCHES IN ROCOCO AND NEO-
CLASSICAL PERIOD
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
 THE PANTHEON, PARIS (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
● Pantheon is a Greek adjective meaning
“honor all Gods”

● Dome - Largest in the world; the diameter of the

dome is 43.30 meters or 142ft

● by the architect Jacques-Germain

Soufflot

● cruciform building with a high dome

● The facade, like that of the Roman

Pantheon, is formed by a porch of
Corinthian columns and triangular
pediment attached to the ends of the
eastern arm.
 MADELEINE, PARIS (Rococo and Neo-Classical)
● Church of St. Mary
Magdalene, Paris church
designed by Pierre-Alexandre
Vignon

● Inspired Roman Temple-

corinthian octastyle peripteral
temple

● Saucer dome on pendentive