DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61669#0152
HOLBEIN’S “AMBASSADORS
tions of the king for Italian work set the stamp of fashion on the em-
ployment of these artists, and for many years the Italians occupied on
the royal buildings were largely in request beyond the precincts of the
Court. On the death of II Rosso, in 1541, the Bolognese, Francesco
Primaticcio, succeeded him as head of the works at Fontainebleau. He
had already been employed by the king, after a first visit to France, to
collect statues and other works of art for him in Italy. Enjoying a
high reputation in his own country as the pupil of Bagnacavallo and
Giulio Romano, the latter of whom he had assisted in the decorations
of the Palazzo del Te at Mantua, Primaticcio soon rose to the first
place among his fellow-countrymen in France. He was ultimately
appointed director of all the royal works, including painting, architec-
ture, and sculpture, and continued to fill this post until his death, which
occurred in 1570.
Associated with Primaticcio in the decorations of Fontainebleau
was his assistant, Niccolo da Modena, called Niccolo dell’ Abate.
Both these men undertook many private commissions in addition to
their work at Court. They were employed, for instance, by Mont-
morency to decorate his house in Paris.1
Another Italian, Girolamo della Robbia, brought to France the
famous secret of his family for the manufacture of glazed tiles. He
executed extensive works at the Chateau of Madrid, and probably also
at Ecouen.2
With all these individuals Dinteville must have come into frequent
contact before his retirement from Court.3 With another of the
Italian artists in France, Domenico del Barbier, or, as he is commonly
1 Primaticcio designed for the house of the Connetable allegorical figures of the
cardinal virtues, which were executed in fresco by Niccolo dell’ Abate. The house was
situated in the Rue Sainte-Avoie, now Rue du Temple. It was subsequently the Hotel
de Mesmes. See Felibien, “ Entretiens sur les Vies et les ouvrages des plus excellents
peintres,” tome i., p. 523, and Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i.,
p. 419.
3 Mrs. Mark Pattison, “ The Renaissance in France,” vol. ii., p. 269.
3 He may indeed have been acquainted with greater than they. In 1540 Benvenuto
Cellini was in the service of the French Court, and twenty-one years earlier, when the
future Bailly was yet a boy, Lionardo da Vinci died at the Chateau Cloux, near Amboise.
I 26
tions of the king for Italian work set the stamp of fashion on the em-
ployment of these artists, and for many years the Italians occupied on
the royal buildings were largely in request beyond the precincts of the
Court. On the death of II Rosso, in 1541, the Bolognese, Francesco
Primaticcio, succeeded him as head of the works at Fontainebleau. He
had already been employed by the king, after a first visit to France, to
collect statues and other works of art for him in Italy. Enjoying a
high reputation in his own country as the pupil of Bagnacavallo and
Giulio Romano, the latter of whom he had assisted in the decorations
of the Palazzo del Te at Mantua, Primaticcio soon rose to the first
place among his fellow-countrymen in France. He was ultimately
appointed director of all the royal works, including painting, architec-
ture, and sculpture, and continued to fill this post until his death, which
occurred in 1570.
Associated with Primaticcio in the decorations of Fontainebleau
was his assistant, Niccolo da Modena, called Niccolo dell’ Abate.
Both these men undertook many private commissions in addition to
their work at Court. They were employed, for instance, by Mont-
morency to decorate his house in Paris.1
Another Italian, Girolamo della Robbia, brought to France the
famous secret of his family for the manufacture of glazed tiles. He
executed extensive works at the Chateau of Madrid, and probably also
at Ecouen.2
With all these individuals Dinteville must have come into frequent
contact before his retirement from Court.3 With another of the
Italian artists in France, Domenico del Barbier, or, as he is commonly
1 Primaticcio designed for the house of the Connetable allegorical figures of the
cardinal virtues, which were executed in fresco by Niccolo dell’ Abate. The house was
situated in the Rue Sainte-Avoie, now Rue du Temple. It was subsequently the Hotel
de Mesmes. See Felibien, “ Entretiens sur les Vies et les ouvrages des plus excellents
peintres,” tome i., p. 523, and Decrue de Stoutz, “Anne de Montmorency,” part i.,
p. 419.
3 Mrs. Mark Pattison, “ The Renaissance in France,” vol. ii., p. 269.
3 He may indeed have been acquainted with greater than they. In 1540 Benvenuto
Cellini was in the service of the French Court, and twenty-one years earlier, when the
future Bailly was yet a boy, Lionardo da Vinci died at the Chateau Cloux, near Amboise.
I 26