Renaissance Art in France The Invention of Classicism

Harvard professor Zerner focuses on one of the most dynamic and flamboyant periods in art history, the Renaissance in France. Renaissance Art in France explains how the school of Fontainebleau, in its exaggerated elegance and complex fantasies, combined French forms of medieval origin with the Italianate decorative style. It quickly came to represent a high point in the development of Mannerism and laid the groundwork for the invention of French Classicism. The volume showcases artists who excelled in the fine arts such as court portraitist François Clouet and sculptor Jean Goujon, as well as those working in decorative arts that also flourished during this period: tapestry, stained-glass windows, printmaking, and metalwork. With beautiful illustrations and an accessible text, it is all summed up here in one compact volume.

Henri Zerner, originally from France, is a professor of art history at Harvard University and former curator of the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His books include Italian Art 1500-1600: Sources and Documents and The School of Fontainbleau.