François I visiting Benvenuto Cellini at the Castle of Nesle

The text of the famous Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, the sixteenth-century sculptor and goldsmith, was the inspiration for this picture. Cellini recounted with pride how the King visited him at his studio in the Castle of Nesle.

Gris�e executed this painting in a style similar to the earlier “troubadour” painters, particularly Pierre R�voil. Like them he has attempted an accurate reconstruction of a sixteenth-century scene while at the same time recalling the style of sixteenth-century painting.

The painting was exhibited at the 1845 Salon in Paris.