Henry II style

also: Style Henri II

style c. 1530-1590 France Europe

The Henry II style was the dominant artistic idiom of sixteenth-century France, a Gallicised form of Italian Mannerism that flourished from about 1530 to 1590. Francis I and Catherine de' Medici had drawn Italian artists - Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio, Sebastiano Serlio, Benvenuto Cellini - to the School of Fontainebleau, and French architects absorbed their manner in turn. Its most enduring products are architectural: Philibert Delorme's Château d'Anet and Tuileries, Pierre Lescot's rebuilding of the Louvre around its Cour Carrée with sculptor Jean Goujon, and Jean Bullant's châteaux of Écouen and Chantilly. Mannerist treatments of classical themes, sculpted ornament and richly carved furniture - armoires with niches, pediments and caryatids - carry the style. Though named for Henry II, it spans five reigns; by 1600 it had yielded to a firmer classicism, its sculptural idiom a step toward the Baroque.

French; Armoire; Woodwork-Furniture
French; Armoire; Woodwork-FurnitureCC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Defining characteristics

  • Classical orders and motifs filtered through Mannerism: elongated figures, crowded reliefs, restless ornament
  • Façades pairing rusticated stone with sculpted caryatids, pilasters, pediments and festoons
  • Deeply carved furniture - armoires and buffets - with niches, columns and figural ornament
  • Twisting, elegant Mannerist figures posed against architectural settings
  • Dense ornamental programs linking painting, sculpture and stucco across palace walls
  • Gallery wings and monumental staircases giving French châteaux a new ceremonial classicism

Key figures

  • Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540) — Italian Mannerist painter who led the first School of Fontainebleau at Francis I's court
  • Francesco Primaticcio (1504-1570) — Rosso's successor at Fontainebleau, who directed its gallery and the Aile de la Belle Cheminée
  • Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) — Florentine sculptor whose Diana for Château d'Anet brought Italian Mannerist statuary to France
  • Philibert Delorme (c. 1510-1570) — Architect of Château d'Anet and the Tuileries, inventor of his own 'French order' of columns
  • Pierre Lescot (c. 1510-1578) — Architect of the Louvre's Cour Carrée, working with sculptor Jean Goujon

Example works

  • Château d'Anet — Philibert Delorme (1547-1552)
  • Tuileries Palace — Philibert Delorme (begun 1564)
  • Les plus excellents bâtiments de France — Jacques Androuet du Cerceau the Elder (1576-1579)

Sources

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