The King and the Artist : Francis I and Rosso Fiorentino
Exhibition at the Château of Fontainebleau from 23 March to 24 June 2013
When Francis I set out to improve Paris and its surrounding areas, he employed the services of great Italian masters to adorn the Château of Fontainebleau, among them Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, also known as Rosso Fiorentino. The artist created several interiors, the most important being the Francis I Gallery, which was decorated between 1533 and 1539 and featured carved panelling, frescoes and stucco in a style never seen before in Europe. Rosso's work became a source of inspiration for French artists throughout the 16th century. The exhibition re-examines the beauty of this marriage of Italian aesthetics and French art with over a hundred different works to discover.