Cognac 1494 - Rambouillet 1547
Francis of Angoulême, a cousin of the royal family, acceded to the throne on 1 January 1515 in the absence of a direct heir to Louis XII. Full of ambition, the young king soon made his mark, emerging victorious from the Battle of Marignano in northern Italy. As a roi-chevalier (knight king), he fought the Emperor Charles V and King Henry VIII of England. As the absolute monarch, he centralised administration of the State. His fascination with the Italian Renaissance affected the arts in France, which progressed from medieval styles to those of the modern era. As a roi-bâtisseur (builder king), he had châteaux built in the Loire Valley, centre of the kingdom between 1515 and 1530 (Blois, Amboise and Chambord). As a roi-mécène (patron king), he invited foreign artists to his court, including Leonardo da Vinci, who entered his service in Amboise. In the Loire Valley, cradle of the "early French Renaissance", the memory of this Renaissance Prince has been kept alive through the many monuments dating from that period..
Jacques de Beaune-Semblançay
Tours circa 1465 - Paris 1527
Jacques de Beaune-Semblançay
Key figure amongst the bourgeois financiers during the reign of Francis I. Son of a wealthy cloth merchant from Tours, he became a trader and banker, and quickly rose to the title of Baron in the service of successive kings. A patron like Francis I, proportionately speaking, we can think of him like a "Medici of the Touraine region". However, the king's costly wars caused some cash flow problems. Charges were laid regarding his management, and he was sentenced to death by hanging in 1527. His execution caused quite a commotion and his fall called into question the power of these nouveau riche financiers. Without proof, the charges were dropped and Jacques de Beaune was exonerated a few years after his death.
Leonardo da Vinci
Vinci 1492 - Amboise 1519
Leonardo da Vinci
The artist was originally from Tuscany. After his years of training and work as a painter in Florence, he worked in the Milan of the Sforzas in the 1480s. In 1499, he briefly worked for the French, then moved on to Mantua, Venice, Florence and Milan. In addition to his natural talent, his studies in anatomy, innovative military tools and machinery made him one of a kind. In 1516 he came to France to serve King Francis I as "First Painter, architect and engineer to the King". He brought three of his paintings with him, including the Mona Lisa. The king set him up to live in Cloux Manor (now Clos Lucé), near Amboise. He worked on the château and the town of Romorantin, a project that would be abandoned for Chambord, where a double helix staircase still stands as testament to his genius. According to popular belief, he passed away in the arms of the king, a great admirer of his. His tomb is in St. Hubert's Chapel in the Royal Château of Amboise.
Bruxelles circa 1475/1485 - Paris circa 1540
Jean Clouet was one of the artists of Flemish origin to have worked for the French royal court. Little is known about his life. He lived and was married in Tours, and in 1516 he became official painter to King Francis I. From 1523 he held the title of "Valet of the King's Chamber". As court portraitist, he introduced France to easel painting and contributed to the development of portrait painting and pencil drawing. His oil paintings and drawings attempted to reproduce the actual expressions of his models, which was innovative at the time. His style was a combination of the Northern and Southern Renaissance, retaining the miniaturist precision of the Flemish school and using the shadows and highlights of Italian painting. He worked with his painter son, François, in the same large workshop, making it difficult to tell their work apart. Clément Marot, the famous court poet, compared his talent to that of Michelangelo.
Chinon, Tours 1494 - Paris circa 1553
From the Touraine region, Rabelais was the son of a lawyer from Chinon. As a monk, he studied law and ancient languages near Angers, later travelling around France. He attended medical school in Montpellier and went on to work in Lyon. As an academic, humanist and friend of Guillaume Budé and Erasmus, he was protected by the king's sister, Marguerite de Navarre and the Cardinal Jean du Bellay. He visited renascent Italy several times with the cardinal. His pentalogy of novels about Gargantua and Pantagruel reflect his attachment to his native Touraine. It is thus likely that the châteaux of Chambord and Bonnivet served as models for the fictitious Abbey of Thélème. Repeatedly condemned by the Sorbonne as heresy, his writing was critical of the period, using rich language while presenting the ideal of a Christian humanist prince. His thoughts on the human body, humanist studies and church reform decidedly earned him a place among the greats of the Renaissance.