Question 1
Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages and explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the reasons for Francis I’s patronage of the French Renaissance.
Passage A
Why was Cellini so keen to come to France when so much might have detained him in his own native Italy? His purpose was to capture the patronage of Francis I who had acquired an international reputation for his good taste in art and wide-ranging generosity. Cellini was not the first Italian, nor the last, to be drawn to his court. Contacts, political and cultural, between France and Italy had flourished in the Middle Ages, but the Italian Wars, begun by Charles VIII in 1494, had strengthened them. Successive military campaigns brought the French kings and their nobles into direct contact with the classical culture of the Italian Renaissance. A first visit by Cellini to France in 1537 had failed to produce a commission, but another sponsored by Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, a close friend of the king, resulted in a commission to make a set of giant candelabra. Leonardo had been too old and infirm to produce anything other than drawings during his last years spent in France, but Cellini was young enough to turn the Petit Nesle, a building in Paris given to him by the king, into a thriving studio where he and his apprentices beat sheets of silver into shape under the admiring gaze of Francis I and his court.
Adapted from: Robert J. Knecht, The French Renaissance Court, published in 2007.
Passage B
The motives of any patron are likely to be complex and will include a desire for self-publicity in varying proportions. In the case of the Renaissance monarchs, there was a further political dimension; patronage of the arts and of letters was used as a means of enhancing the image of power of both the individual ruler and the state. Francis I was acutely aware how a skilful artist could project him as a strong king, a handsome warrior and a man of taste. Henry VIII and Charles V were equally adept at using art as propaganda to enhance their prestige, and the three men, all much of an age, competed in self-projection through patronage of arts and letters. In 1538, Francis invited Titian to visit him, stimulated by the arrival of a portrait portraying him as a broad-shouldered, masterful figure.
Two years after Marignano, Francis wanted to show the world that he was not only a great soldier, but also a man of learning and taste, so in 1517 he announced that he wished to establish a college for the study of classical languages. During his reign, the Italian Renaissance made a wide impact on France, and her prestige increased in the eyes of western Europe. Francis did not reach Henry VIII’s level of musical expertise, but he took an interest in attracting singers and players of high quality to perform at court. In all other respects, he was able to outshine the ruler he regarded as a rival in this sphere as well as in war.
Adapted from: Catherine Mulgan, The Renaissance Monarchies: 1469–1558, published in 1998.
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