Francesco Primaticcio

Francesco Primaticcio , 1504-70, Italian painter, called Le Primatice by the French. He was influenced by Correggio and by Michelangelo. As assistant to Giulio Romano in the frescoing of the Palazzo del Tè in Mantua, he adapted the master's methods of illusionism and mannerist idiom. In 1532, Francis I invited Primaticcio to participate in the decoration of the château at Fontainebleau. Working with Il Rosso on the fresco and stucco ornamentation, he became director of the whole project in 1540 upon Rosso's death. Only a few of Primaticcio's works at Fontainebleau survive. The most important scenes from the Odyssey in the Gallery of Ulysses have been destroyed. Many drawings for the project still exist (Louvre; École des Beaux-Arts, Paris; Chantilly; and Vienna). He remained in the royal service under four successive monarchs, painting decorations for royal châteaus and other buildings, designing tomb monuments of Francis I and Henry II, and executing other architectural works. Primaticcio did much to extend the influence of Italian art in France.

Primaticcio, Francesco (b Bologna, 1504/5; d Paris, Mar./Sept. 1570). Italian painter, architect, and decorator, mainly active in France. He was born in Bologna and developed his all-round skills as Giulio Romano's assistant in Mantua. In 1532 he was called to France by Francis I and worked with Rosso at Fontainebleau. Together they were mainly responsible for establishing the distinctive French type of Mannerism associated with the School of Fontainebleau. Their respective shares in the creation of the new manner—particularly the highly influential combination of paintings with stucco ornament—are uncertain. Rosso is often accorded primacy, but Vasari said ‘the first works in stucco that were done in France, and the first labours in fresco of any account, had their origin, it is said, in Primaticcio.’ His elongated figure style also had wide influence in France. Primaticcio took over the direction of the work at Fontainebleau on Rosso's death in 1540 and in the 1540s he twice visited Rome to buy antiquities or have casts made for Francis. In his later years he turned more to architecture, but little survives of his work in this field. On the other hand, examples of his drawings are in several major collections; there are also a few easel paintings by him.