French Renaissance furniture is characterized by elaborately carved wood crafted by skilled artisans. Although the Renaissance coincided throughout Europe, the French Renaissance style was mainly influenced by Italy. The French furniture makers expressed renewed interest in art and ideas from ancient Greece and Rome, thematically with mythological figures, cherubs, and the plant and animal world. In France, the more motifs on one piece, the better. The French monarchy, looking for ways to decorate their chateaux, commanded substantially sized, ornate pieces of furniture.

France was engaged in wars during the Renaissance to rule critical Italian city-states. King Francis I (r. 1515–47) participated in the war and was exposed to Italian Renaissance ideas. He envisioned that classical ideals could be adapted into French arts and culture. While Francis did not triumph in winning over parts of Italy, he successfully brought Italian artists and artisans to France.

In 1527, after imprisonment in Spain, Francis brought Italian craftsmen to France to work on his château at Amboise. An avid hunter, he soon expanded his hunting lodge at Fontainebleau, hoping to create a royal court to rival other European courts. Italian masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Rosso Fiorentino worked on his chateaux. Fontainebleau was only forty miles from Paris, but it took a day to get there. This isolation proved to be fertile ground for so many talented people.

Fontainebleau and other chateaux required large-scale furniture pieces. Luxurious, two-piece cabinets, armoires, and library tables were made using a small ax. It was the first time artisans separated themselves from the carpenters' guild, which used a substantially larger tool for their work.

Fontainebleau highlighted the role of gardens, which popularized garden-related themes and gardening. The most influential work at Fontainebleau was Fiorentino’s Gallery Francis I. It displayed new plaster, carving, and strap-work techniques and expanded Renaissance motifs to an almost surreal level. Many consider it the first and most comprehensive demonstration of Mannerism.

The later period of the French Renaissance is associated with King Henry II (r. 1547-59), Francis's second son. By Henry's reign, French Renaissance furniture owed less to the Italian Renaissance, better reflecting the French aesthetic. Drawing from the Mannerist movement, furniture of this later period exhibits more fluid design, elongated figures, and juxtaposed motifs.

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French Renaissance furniture is stunning in its intricately carved wood and ornamented features. The escabelle chair, for example, was viewed as a work of art rather than a practical piece. Other French chairs are proportionally graceful—with high backs and straight legs.

Oak was used early in the period, but walnut became the preferred wood partly because it was more amenable to the intricate carving. Wood was lightly stained, if at all, because the wood grain itself was to be featured. While wood is the favored material and carving the dominant decoration, French Renaissance cabinets sometimes featured inset panels of black marble or ebony.

One Gothic holdover in French Renaissance furniture can be found in the use of corner pendants. Also, like their Gothic counterparts, representative pieces are architectural. The Henry II buffet, for example, has two or three parts and often exaggerates height. Features mimic building components, such as windows, panels, and columns.

Motifs, including mythological, historical, and biblical scenes, reflect their Italian heritage. More unique to French Renaissance pieces are portraits in profile, "grotesque" imagery, and the artful mingling of themes.

French Renaissance furniture from this period is rare because much of it was immense and immovable, palatial rather than domestic. Furniture in this style is usually from the revival period, popular in the second half of the 19th century.

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Books and Periodicals 

Decorative Furniture by George Leland Hunter.

French Furniture from the Renaissance to the Empire Style by Joseph Aronson.

How to Know Period Styles in Furniture: A Brief History of Furniture from the Days of Ancient Egypt to the Present Time by William Lowing Kimerly.

Web Resources

Francis I www.renaissance-spell.com.

Gardens in the French Renaissance www.metmuseum.org.

Stylistic Origins of French Gothic and Renaissance Furniture www.mmarkley.com.

Related Dictionary Pages: French Furniture Style - Louis XV (1723-1774), French Furniture Style - Louis XIII (1560-1643).