LE BRETON, Gilles

The Château de Fontainebleau has become an icon of French history providing residency to a string of French monarchs such as Louis VII and Napoleon III. It is located within a beautifully verdant forest and is immediately surrounded by extensive landscaped gardens.

The master mason Le Breton carried out many works at Fontainebleau. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. Unfortunately, many parts have been altered or pulled down.

The Château de Fontainebleau has become an icon of French history providing residency to a string of French monarchs such as Louis VII and Napoleon III. It is located within a beautifully verdant forest and is immediately surrounded by extensive landscaped gardens.

The master mason Le Breton carried out many works at Fontainebleau. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. Unfortunately, many parts have been altered or pulled down.

From the time of Francis I, the palace was surrounded by formal gardens, representing the major landscaping styles of their periods; the French Renaissance garden, inspired by the Italian Renaissance gardens; the French formal garden, the favorite style of Louis XIV; and, in the 18th and 19th century, the French landscape garden, inspired by the English landscape garden.

In 1528 King Francis I decided to make certain improvements in the medieval castle of Fontainebleau, which had up till then been no more than a hunting lodge. He began with the idea of making small alterations. By the time he had developed a scheme for the total transformation, everything had been confused by attempts to incorporate old parts and to add wings here and there. The result is that, though charming and picturesque, Fontainebleau is one of the most inconsequently designed châteaux in France.

The work was carried out by the master mason Gilles Le Breton. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. The manner is unmistakably French, its classicism is an evolution within a French idiom, and is not due to importing of new Italian motives.

From the contract signed by Le Breton in 1528 we know that the first plan of Francis I included the following modifications and additions: the building of a new entrance, the Porte Dor�e, to the court of the old castle, the Cour de l’Ovale; the addition of a gallery stretching behind the keep, and later called the Galerie Fran�ois I; and the construction of two blocks at an obtuse angle to link the new entrance to the keep. In addition, the north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc probably dates from this period.

The north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc is composed of brick pilasters and mouldings against a white plaster wall, an arrangement which was to be widely followed in châteaux. Here again no strict attention is paid to symmetry, for instance in the placing of the windows. The same point might be made about the east side of the court, but in this case the irregularities are due to subsequent alterations. The parts due to Le Breton, and built at various dates between 1528 and the death of Francis I, are in general distinguishable by being constructed in plaster with quoins and pilasters of gr�s, whereas the later parts are executed in a finer cream-coloured stone.

In 1528 King Francis I decided to make certain improvements in the medieval castle of Fontainebleau, which had up till then been no more than a hunting lodge. He began with the idea of making small alterations. By the time he had developed a scheme for the total transformation, everything had been confused by attempts to incorporate old parts and to add wings here and there. The result is that, though charming and picturesque, Fontainebleau is one of the most inconsequently designed châteaux in France.

The work was carried out by the master mason Gilles Le Breton. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. The manner is unmistakably French, its classicism is an evolution within a French idiom, and is not due to importing of new Italian motives.

From the contract signed by Le Breton in 1528 we know that the first plan of Francis I included the following modifications and additions: the building of a new entrance, the Porte Dor�e, to the court of the old castle, the Cour de l’Ovale; the addition of a gallery stretching behind the keep, and later called the Galerie Fran�ois I; and the construction of two blocks at an obtuse angle to link the new entrance to the keep. In addition, the north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc probably dates from this period.

The north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc is composed of brick pilasters and mouldings against a white plaster wall, an arrangement which was to be widely followed in châteaux. Here again no strict attention is paid to symmetry, for instance in the placing of the windows. The same point might be made about the east side of the court, but in this case the irregularities are due to subsequent alterations. The parts due to Le Breton, and built at various dates between 1528 and the death of Francis I, are in general distinguishable by being constructed in plaster with quoins and pilasters of gr�s, whereas the later parts are executed in a finer cream-coloured stone.

In 1528 King Francis I decided to make certain improvements in the medieval castle of Fontainebleau, which had up till then been no more than a hunting lodge. He began with the idea of making small alterations. By the time he had developed a scheme for the total transformation, everything had been confused by attempts to incorporate old parts and to add wings here and there. The result is that, though charming and picturesque, Fontainebleau is one of the most inconsequently designed châteaux in France.

The work was carried out by the master mason Gilles Le Breton. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. The manner is unmistakably French, its classicism is an evolution within a French idiom, and is not due to importing of new Italian motives.

From the contract signed by Le Breton in 1528 we know that the first plan of Francis I included the following modifications and additions: the building of a new entrance, the Porte Dor�e, to the court of the old castle, the Cour de l’Ovale; the addition of a gallery stretching behind the keep, and later called the Galerie Fran�ois I; and the construction of two blocks at an obtuse angle to link the new entrance to the keep. In addition, the north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc probably dates from this period.

The north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc is composed of brick pilasters and mouldings against a white plaster wall, an arrangement which was to be widely followed in châteaux. Here again no strict attention is paid to symmetry, for instance in the placing of the windows. The same point might be made about the east side of the court, but in this case the irregularities are due to subsequent alterations. The parts due to Le Breton, and built at various dates between 1528 and the death of Francis I, are in general distinguishable by being constructed in plaster with quoins and pilasters of gr�s, whereas the later parts are executed in a finer cream-coloured stone.

In 1528 King Francis I decided to make certain improvements in the medieval castle of Fontainebleau, which had up till then been no more than a hunting lodge. He began with the idea of making small alterations. By the time he had developed a scheme for the total transformation, everything had been confused by attempts to incorporate old parts and to add wings here and there. The result is that, though charming and picturesque, Fontainebleau is one of the most inconsequently designed châteaux in France.

The work was carried out by the master mason Gilles Le Breton. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. The manner is unmistakably French, its classicism is an evolution within a French idiom, and is not due to importing of new Italian motives.

From the contract signed by Le Breton in 1528 we know that the first plan of Francis I included the following modifications and additions: the building of a new entrance, the Porte Dor�e, to the court of the old castle, the Cour de l’Ovale; the addition of a gallery stretching behind the keep, and later called the Galerie Fran�ois I; and the construction of two blocks at an obtuse angle to link the new entrance to the keep. In addition, the north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc probably dates from this period.

The north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc is composed of brick pilasters and mouldings against a white plaster wall, an arrangement which was to be widely followed in châteaux. Here again no strict attention is paid to symmetry, for instance in the placing of the windows. The same point might be made about the east side of the court, but in this case the irregularities are due to subsequent alterations. The parts due to Le Breton, and built at various dates between 1528 and the death of Francis I, are in general distinguishable by being constructed in plaster with quoins and pilasters of gr�s, whereas the later parts are executed in a finer cream-coloured stone.

In 1528 King Francis I decided to make certain improvements in the medieval castle of Fontainebleau, which had up till then been no more than a hunting lodge. He began with the idea of making small alterations. By the time he had developed a scheme for the total transformation, everything had been confused by attempts to incorporate old parts and to add wings here and there. The result is that, though charming and picturesque, Fontainebleau is one of the most inconsequently designed châteaux in France.

The work was carried out by the master mason Gilles Le Breton. From the uniformity of style in different parts of the building it is reasonable to suppose that he was the designer as well as the executant. The manner is unmistakably French, its classicism is an evolution within a French idiom, and is not due to importing of new Italian motives.

From the contract signed by Le Breton in 1528 we know that the first plan of Francis I included the following modifications and additions: the building of a new entrance, the Porte Dor�e, to the court of the old castle, the Cour de l’Ovale; the addition of a gallery stretching behind the keep, and later called the Galerie Fran�ois I; and the construction of two blocks at an obtuse angle to link the new entrance to the keep. In addition, the north side of the Cour de Cheval Blanc probably dates from this period.

Of these buildings, the most interesting is the Porte Dor�e, in which the new style of Le Breton appears clearly. Fundamentally it is the fortified gate to a castle flanked by two towers, translated into a partly Renaissance idiom. The decoration is limited to the application of flat pilasters on each floor and to the windows, which are topped with straight pediments. The most striking feature is the series of three open bays one above the other in the middle. The design is asymmetrical: the right tower is slightly broader than the left, and the middle peak of the roof is arbitrarily placed.

The photo shows the Porte Dor�e and the All�e de Maintenon.

Of the many works carried out by Le Breton at Fontainebleau almost all have been altered or pulled down; but one must be mentioned, even though as it stands today is only a fragment. This is the portico and staircase in the Cour de l’Ovale, of which a reconstruction by Albert Bray (1935) is shown in the figure.

This design is original, it may have been inspired by an Italian artist, perhaps Rosso, but in many respects it develops out of a French tradition. The form of the staircase with a double flight leading to a single flight bridging an arch to the first floor of the building is in the late medieval French tradition. The staircase is the first of a great series of similar schemes.