School of Fontainebleau

The Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château of Fontainebleau.

First School of Fontainebleau (from 1531)

• Rosso Fiorentino (Giovanni Battista di Jacopo de' Rossi) (1494-1540) (Italian)
• Primaticcio (Francesco Primaticcio) (c.1505-1570) (Italian)
• Nicolò dell'Abate (c.1509-1571) (Italian)

Second School of Fontainebleau (from 1594)

• Ambroise Dubois (c.1542-1614) (Flemish born)
• Toussaint Dubreuil (c.1561-1602)
• Martin Fréminet (1567-1619)

In 1531, the Florentine artist Rosso Fiorentino, having lost most of his possessions at the Sack of Rome in 1527, was invited by François I to come to France, where he began an extensive decorative program for the Château of Fontainebleau. In 1532 he was joined by another Italain artist, Primaticcio (from Bologne). Rosso died in France in 1540. On the advice of Primaticcio, Nicolò dell'Abate (from Modena) was invited to France in 1552 by François's son Henri II. Although known for their work at Fontainebleau, these artists were also invited to create works of art for other noble families of the period and were much estimed and well-paid.

The works of this "first school of Fontainebleau" are characterized by the extensive use of stucco (moldings and picture frames) and frescos, and an elaborate (and often mysterious) system of allegories and mythological iconography. Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, as too a certain eroticism. The figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian Mannerism of Michelangelo, Raphael and especially Parmigianino. Primaticcio was also directed to make copies of antique Roman statues for the king, thus spreading the influence of classical statuary. Many of the works of Rosso, Primaticcio and dell'Abate have not survived.

The mannerist style of the Fontainebleau school influenced French artists (with whom the Italians worked) such as the painter Jean Cousin the elder, the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon, and, to a lesser degree, the painter and portraitist François Clouet the son of Jean Clouet.

From 1584 to 1594, during the Wars of Religion the château of Fontainebleau was abandoned. Upon his ascention to the throne, Henri IV undertook a renovation of the Fontainebleau buildings using a group of artists: the Flemish born Ambroise Dubois (from Antwerp) and the Parisians Toussaint Dubreuil and Martin Fréminet. They are sometimes referred to as the "second school of Fontainebleau". Their late mannerist works, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of elongated and undulating forms and crowded compositions. Many of their subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by the Italian Torquato Tasso and the ancient Greek novelist Heliodorus.

Their style would continue to have an influence on artists through the first decades of the 17th century, like Claude Vignon the elder (1593-1670), but other artistic currents (Peter Paul Rubens, Caravaggio, the Dutch and Flemish naturalist schools) would soon eclipse them.