French Renaissance
The Great Wars of Italy provided the French with an opportunity to discover that country. Charles VIII and Louis XII brought Italian artists, among them G. da Fiesole and les Guisti (also called the Justes) (tomb of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany), with them when they returned.
Certain forerunners such as J. Fouquet and M. Colombe would blend the Gothic tradition with Italian innovations, (particularly with regards to perspective). The Cardinal d'Amboise, who was greatly interested by Italy, constructed the chateau de Gaillon (1501-1510) using the full repertoire of Italian decorative style.
However, the true beginning of the French renaissance would have to wait for the influence of François I, who determined that France must be both a political and a cultural power. He stipulated that French be used in all public acts in the Villers-Cotterêts decree of 10-15 August 1539, was a patron of art and literature (the poets of the Pléiade group, G. Budé, Rabelais and others), he invited great Italian artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Le Rosso to the French court and he built the Chambord chateau (1526), which inspired the construction of all the other major chateaux of the Loire Valley - the chateau de Madrid (no longer in existence) - and transformed Fontainebleau, Amboise, Blois, etc.
French artists learned from and continued the tradition of the Italians: P. Delorme, P. Lescot, J. Bullant and A. du Cerceau in architecture, J. Goujon, P. Jacquiot and G. Pilon in sculpture. Painting remained the forte of Italian Mannerists (Le Rosso, Le Primatice) particularly in Fontainebleau.
