SERLIO, Sebastiano

Construction of the existing château began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I. Following Serlio’s death in 1554 at Fontainebleau, architect Pierre Lescot, took over the work, respecting the original plans of Serlio. The interior design is the work of Francesco Primaticcio, who was working at château de Fontainebleau at the time.

During his time in France Serlio seems to have carried out only two buildings: the house of Ippolito d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, at Fontainebleau, known as ‘Le Grand Ferrare’, of which only the gate survives, and the château of Ancy-le-Franc in Burgundy. In addition he made designs which were not executed. These works were of great importance for the later development of French architecture, but Serlio’s influence was even greater through his treatise, which was issued in many editions and was translated into most European languages.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in a manuscript, shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland. The château survives complete, though it underwent many alterations during the period when Serlio was in charge of the building and some after his death. The result of these alterations was that the building became markedly French, with its high roof and the flat patterning of the walls, which is familiar from châteaux such as Villandry.

View the ground plan of Château, Ancy-le-Franc.

Construction of the existing château began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I. Following Serlio’s death in 1554 at Fontainebleau, architect Pierre Lescot, took over the work, respecting the original plans of Serlio. The interior design is the work of Francesco Primaticcio, who was working at château de Fontainebleau at the time.

During his time in France Serlio seems to have carried out only two buildings: the house of Ippolito d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, at Fontainebleau, known as ‘Le Grand Ferrare’, of which only the gate survives, and the château of Ancy-le-Franc in Burgundy. In addition he made designs which were not executed. These works were of great importance for the later development of French architecture, but Serlio’s influence was even greater through his treatise, which was issued in many editions and was translated into most European languages.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in a manuscript, shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland. The château survives complete, though it underwent many alterations during the period when Serlio was in charge of the building and some after his death. The result of these alterations was that the building became markedly French, with its high roof and the flat patterning of the walls, which is familiar from châteaux such as Villandry.

View the ground plan of Château, Ancy-le-Franc.

Construction of the existing château began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I. Following Serlio’s death in 1554 at Fontainebleau, architect Pierre Lescot, took over the work, respecting the original plans of Serlio. The interior design is the work of Francesco Primaticcio, who was working at château de Fontainebleau at the time.

During his time in France Serlio seems to have carried out only two buildings: the house of Ippolito d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, at Fontainebleau, known as ‘Le Grand Ferrare’, of which only the gate survives, and the château of Ancy-le-Franc in Burgundy. In addition he made designs which were not executed. These works were of great importance for the later development of French architecture, but Serlio’s influence was even greater through his treatise, which was issued in many editions and was translated into most European languages.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in a manuscript, shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland. The château survives complete, though it underwent many alterations during the period when Serlio was in charge of the building and some after his death. The result of these alterations was that the building became markedly French, with its high roof and the flat patterning of the walls, which is familiar from châteaux such as Villandry.

This drawing shows the fa�ade of a Venetian palazzo that incorporates the Doric and Ionic orders. It from a book ‘Regole generali di architettura,’ published in Venice by Francesco Marcolini in 1537. The book is part of Serlio’s L’Architettura, published in instalments between 1537 and 1575, and collected in one volume in 1584. The first part to appear was actually Book IV, called Regole generali (1537), which outlined the later books, but, most significantly, codified and illustrated the five Roman Orders of architecture.

L’Architettura was an enormously important treatise, not only in terms of Renaissance theory, but because it was a useful tome for architects, essentially because of its excellent illustrations and the fact that it was in a modern language.

Construction of the existing château began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I. Following Serlio’s death in 1554 at Fontainebleau, architect Pierre Lescot, took over the work, respecting the original plans of Serlio. The interior design is the work of Francesco Primaticcio, who was working at château de Fontainebleau at the time.

During his time in France Serlio seems to have carried out only two buildings: the house of Ippolito d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, at Fontainebleau, known as ‘Le Grand Ferrare’, of which only the gate survives, and the château of Ancy-le-Franc in Burgundy. In addition he made designs which were not executed. These works were of great importance for the later development of French architecture, but Serlio’s influence was even greater through his treatise, which was issued in many editions and was translated into most European languages.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in a manuscript, shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland. The château survives complete, though it underwent many alterations during the period when Serlio was in charge of the building and some after his death. The result of these alterations was that the building became markedly French, with its high roof and the flat patterning of the walls, which is familiar from châteaux such as Villandry.

View the ground plan of Château, Ancy-le-Franc.

Construction of the existing château began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I. Following Serlio’s death in 1554 at Fontainebleau, architect Pierre Lescot, took over the work, respecting the original plans of Serlio. The interior design is the work of Francesco Primaticcio, who was working at château de Fontainebleau at the time.

The photo shows the courtyard.

In April 1528 Francis I commissioned Gilles Le Breton for a programme of building (completed 1540) at Fontainebleau. The Cour de l’Ovale was to be rebuilt using the old foundations and retaining the old keep, while a gallery, now the Galerie Fran�ois I, was to be constructed linking this with the Trinitarian abbey to the west, which was soon demolished and replaced by the Cour du Cheval Blanc. The north range of the Cour du Cheval Blanc survives almost unaltered and is of plastered rubble with brick dressings. The medieval gatehouse (now called the Porte Dor�e) in the south-west corner was rebuilt in Renaissance style, based on the entrance to the ducal palace at Urbino. Adjoining the Porte Dor�e to the east is the vast Salle de Bal, designed by Sebastiano Serlio, and next to it in turn is the Chapelle St-Saturnin, on the site of the original medieval chapel.

In 1530 Rosso Fiorentino was entrusted with the decorations of the interior, later joined (1532) by Francesco Primaticcio. Together they developed the style of the first Fontainebleau school, in effect the first extensive and consistent display of Mannerism in northern Europe.

The photo shows the Salle de Bal (also called Galerie Henri II) designed by Sebastiano Serlio (1541). The frescoes, designed by Primaticcio were painted by Niccolò dell’Abbate in 1550.

Construction of the existing Château d’Ancy-le-Franc began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in the manuscript at the Avery Library of the Columbia University (the Columbia manuscript), shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland.

This drawing shows the plan and elevation of a palazzo for a Venetian nobleman.

Construction of the existing Château d’Ancy-le-Franc began in 1544, at the request of Antoine III de Clermont, brother-in-law of Diane de Poitiers. The design of the building is traditionally attributed to the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio, who had been invited to France by King Francis I.

Serlio’s original plan, preserved in the manuscript at the Avery Library of the Columbia University (the Columbia manuscript), shows an entire Italianate building with rusticated ground floor and four low square towers at the corners, in the manner of early Renaissance villas on the Venetian mainland.