French Renaissance

At the beginning of the 16th century, the french were collecting many art treasures and bringing in new stylistic ideas. Many Renaissance chateaux appeared at this time, the earliest being Chateau d'Amboise. The style of these chateaux become known dominant under Francois I, but eventually the style grew into a French Mannerism known as the Henry II style. I'm going to discuss three chateaux that are very important to this time period. 

Chateau d'Amboise 
For the majority of the 15th and 16th century, the Chateau d'Amboise was favored as the royal residence. It was seized in the 1400s by Charles VII and underwent a lot of renovations. This castle was the first to have five gardens laid out in the formal style that eventually became known as French style gardens. 

Chateau de Chambord 
Chambord is the largest Chateau in the Loire Valley. The building, constructed by Francois I, was never actually completed. It was originally built to serve as his hunting lodge. The layout is reminiscent of a typical castle with a keep and corner towers. The chateau has 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. One of the highlights of Chambord is the double helix open staircase that is the centerpiece of the chateau.  

Chateau de Fontainebleau
Located south of Paris, Chateau de Fontainebleau is one of the largest French royal chateaux. The medieval castle and later chateau was the residence of monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III. A key feature of this chateau is the Gallery of Francis I. It is known as the first and finest examples of Renaissance decoration in France. 


Modern Applications
This style of chateaux can be seen in many different modern applications. Below are pictures of residential applications of the French Renaissance style. 

Helpful Videos
Cheateau d'Amboise Tour | https://youtu.be/PRnOiJLwNiE
Chateau de Chambord Tour | https://youtu.be/Te8u5B2vLts
Chateau de Fontainebleau Tour | https://youtu.be/0k23mOuGTws

Peer Reviews
Nichole | I really enjoyed the pictures that Nichole posted of modern applications of French Renaissance design. The strong detailing that each picture had was really spot on with the time period. 
Haley | I appreciated that Haley went into a lot of detail about the specific subdivisions of the French Renaissance. I definitely learned a lot from reading her blog this week.