“The exhibition highlights the two major artists invited to France by Francis I - the Florentine Rosso and the Bolognese Primatice - but differs from exhibitions devoted to their drawings or to the Fontainebleau worksite in its focus on the engravers who were associated with them on site, and who were not only skilful interpreters of the compositions of these two masters, but also inventors of forms and experimenters with the new etching technique, which they profoundly renewed.”
Éric de Chassey, Directeur des Beaux-Arts de Paris
Through a selection of some 50 works, this exhibition highlights the exceptional collection of drawings and prints by École de Fontainebleau held by Beaux-Arts de Paris. It provides an opportunity to (re)discover the art of maniera that developed at the Château de Fontainebleau and then spread to France under the impetus of Rosso Fiorentino and Francesco Primatice, two Italian artists in the service of Francis I and then Henry II.
The works on display evoke the genesis of the château's painted and sculpted decorations, from the Galerie François I to the Galerie d'Ulysse, and are complemented by etchings produced at Fontainebleau in the 1540's. This innovative corpus, the result of an unprecedented project in France, raises numerous questions, notably concerning the distribution of models, material organization, formal research and the technical trials and tribulations of the artists.
Some of the works on show are previously unseen, and the vast majority have not been shown to the public for over 30 years. A rare drawing from Rosso's French period, Pandora Freeing the Plagues from her Box, is one of the major pieces in the exhibition. Beaux-Arts de Paris collection of drawings relating to 16th-century art in France is one of the largest and most remarkable in France, alongside those of the Musée du Louvre and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. With almost 400 works, Beaux-Arts de Paris holds the second largest collection of Bellifontaine prints in France after the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and one of the largest in the world alongside the British Museum. Beaux-Arts de Paris owes this wealth to the contributions of passionate collectors from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as to the generosity of contemporary patrons, in particular the Association des Amateurs de Dessins des Beaux-Arts de Paris.
The Fontainebleau project is an example of artistic ferment and effervescence, a symbol of transnational artistic collaboration whose modernity has marked the history of art in Europe. Today, this exceptional moment is reflected in the activities of Beaux-Arts de Paris, where the conservation, study and transmission of heritage play a central role in contemporary teaching.
CURATORS
Hélène Gasnault and Giulia Longo, respectively curator of drawings and curator of prints and photographs at Beaux-Arts de Paris.
PRACTICAL INFOS
Exhibition from Wednesday, October 22, 2025 to Sunday, February 1, 2026
Wednesday to Sunday, 1pm-7pm
€2, €5 or €10 - the choice is yours!
