Arts et artistes du Nord à la cour de François Ier

Abstract

Flemish artists, especially portraitists, played a leading role in the French cultural life of the time. Thus Francis I confided to the Flemings the task of executing his portraits or those of his entourage. Jean Clouet, the official portraitist of the first King of Valois, is the most famous example of this. Other Flemish personalities are present at the court of France, such as the painters and designers Gauthier de Campes, Godefroy le Batave, Léonard Thiry or Noël Bellemare, in the service of François Ier or active on the royal yards, especially in Fontainebleau. Their influence extends to the domains of majolica, decorative arts and engraving. The place of Flemish art in the royal French collections is another aspect of relations between the King of France and the artistic productions of the North. In this respect, tapestry is an exceptional field of acquisition for the French sovereign. Music is not to be outdone: several Flemish composers, or of Flemish origin, frequent the royal chapel of François Ier. The result of a collective effort, this work rehabilitates the long-neglected presence of the arts of the North at the court of France.--