François I
“Prince of the Renaissance”
When François’ was born in 1494, he was the second cousin of the second cousin to the French King — a long way from the throne. However, against the odds, at the age of 20 François became King of France.
Most of the millions of visitors to France have no idea the vital role he played in so many sites they visit.
François brought the Italian Renaissance to France, assembling a magnificent collection of Italian paintings and statues. His favourite residence was the Chateau of Fontainebleau. Artists such as Primaticcio, Fiorentino and Cellini worked there and sculptures and paintings by artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were displayed (the Mona Lisa was originally in Francois’ bath apartment there).
François made considerable changes to the Loire Valley royal residences in Amboise and Blois. He built a magnificent new hunting chateau at Chambord where he set up the arrangement of an “apartment”, a series of rooms, the “chambre” or bedroom being the main feature. This was to become the standard layout in royal residences.
Chambord was not designed to be a permanent residence and François stayed there with the court for a total of seven weeks during his reign. The furniture was transported for each visit and the chateau remained unfurnished in between.
Celebrated interior designer Jacques Garcia drew up the plans for a new presentation of François’ chateau to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci in 2019. The original “lit à la francaise”, a style from a later period, has been replaced by a more accurate reconstruction. The room also contains a camp bed, most likely used for a manservant during the night as well as a bed used for travelling.
The King and his court were always on the road, so beds were transported from place to place. The travel bed in François’ bed chamber at Chambord did not belong to him but is a rare original from the same period.
In Paris, François started the rebuilding of the Louvre as the main royal residence as well as building a new Hôtel de Ville.*
His interest in architecture resulted in him building or reconstructing seven chateaux in fifteen years. Given this lasting legacy and his contribution to the arts, it is interesting that, like his contemporary Henry VIII of England, most biographers seem to concentrate on François’ love life.
*Hotel de Ville – the original town hall built by François was the work of Italian architect Domenico de Cortona, known as Boccador. He was also associated with the design of Chambord. The current Hotel de Ville in Paris was built in the same style as François’ original.