Francesco Primaticcio
Francesco Primaticcio arrived at the French royal court in 1532, entering the service of Francis I at the palace of Fontainebleau. He was twenty-eight years old. Born in Bologna on the 30th of April, 1504, he had trained under Italian masters before making the journey north. What had prepared him for this role? What did the decades at Fontainebleau demand of him? And why did so much of what he made eventually disappear? The Italian training that set him on this path began in workshops whose ambitions matched his own.
Giulio Romano was overseeing the decoration of the Palazzo Te in Mantua when Primaticcio came to study with him. Primaticcio contributed directly to that project, executing decorations at the palazzo himself. He had also trained under Innocenzo da Imola in Bologna. Two teachers in two different cities had given him the preparation he would carry to France. One of the other Italian painters at Fontainebleau was Rosso Fiorentino.
Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio together formed the nucleus of what became known as the First School of Fontainebleau. Their work shaped the visual character of the chateau's interior. When Rosso died in 1540, Primaticcio assumed sole direction of the artistic program there. He furnished painters and stuccators with designs; Nicolò dell'Abate was among those who executed work from his cartoons.
Giorgio Ghisi engraved Primaticcio's ceiling designs for the Ulysses Gallery at Fontainebleau. Those prints became the primary record of the room after the gallery was demolished in 1738-39. Primaticcio also made cartoons for tapestry-weavers and designed elaborate temporary decorations for court masques and fêtes. Those festive decorations were built for single occasions and did not survive as objects. What endures of that work is confined to preparatory drawings and, in some cases, prints made after his designs. Francis I's investment in Primaticcio extended far beyond the walls of Fontainebleau, sending him south across the Alps on two separate occasions.
Francis I dispatched Primaticcio to Italy on buying trips in 1540 and again in 1545. In Rome, part of his commission involved taking casts from the finest ancient sculptures in the papal collections. Selected casts were reproduced in bronze, and those figures were placed along the garden parterres at Fontainebleau. The king was decorating not only the palace's interior but its grounds, and Primaticcio was the trusted agent he sent to gather the models. His standing at court would outlast the reign of the king who first hired him.
Henry II and Francis II, the two kings who succeeded Francis I, both retained Primaticcio as their court painter. His masterpiece, the Salle d'Hercule at Fontainebleau, was in progress from the 1530s through 1559. The paintings were dense with figures, and his characteristic treatment of the human form, elongated and graceful, set the visual standard for French court painting. That standard persisted through the rest of the sixteenth century, spread by the many artists who worked from his designs. Late in his career, Primaticcio turned to architecture.
The Valois Chapel at the Abbey of Saint-Denis was Primaticcio's greatest architectural work. He took it on towards the end of his life, when painting was giving way to architecture. The project outlasted him. Primaticcio died in 1570 before the chapel was completed. The finished structure stood at Saint-Denis until 1719, when it was destroyed. The gap between his death and that demolition was nearly 150 years.
Continue browsing
Updated
Common questions
When was Francesco Primaticcio born and where did he train?
Francesco Primaticcio was born in Bologna on the 30th of April, 1504. He trained under Giulio Romano in Mantua, working on the decorations at the Palazzo Te, and under Innocenzo da Imola in Bologna. He joined the French royal court in 1532.
What was the First School of Fontainebleau and who were its leaders?
The First School of Fontainebleau was the group of artists who shaped the decorative program at Chateau Fontainebleau under Francis I. Francesco Primaticcio and Rosso Fiorentino were its two leading figures. After Rosso died in 1540, Primaticcio assumed sole direction of the artistic program.
What is Francesco Primaticcio's masterpiece at Fontainebleau?
Francesco Primaticcio's masterpiece is the Salle d'Hercule at Fontainebleau. He and his team worked on it from the 1530s to 1559.
Why did Francesco Primaticcio travel to Italy in 1540 and 1545?
Francis I sent Francesco Primaticcio to Italy on buying trips in 1540 and 1545. In Rome, Primaticcio took casts from ancient sculptures in the papal collections, and selected casts were reproduced in bronze for the garden parterres at Fontainebleau.
What happened to the Valois Chapel designed by Francesco Primaticcio?
The Valois Chapel at the Abbey of Saint-Denis was Francesco Primaticcio's greatest architectural work. He died in 1570 before the chapel was completed, and the finished building was destroyed in 1719.
How did Francesco Primaticcio influence French painting in the sixteenth century?
Primaticcio's Mannerist compositions, dense with figures and featuring an elongated treatment of the human form, shaped French court painting for the rest of the sixteenth century. His influence spread through the many artists who worked from his designs at Fontainebleau.