FRENCH DRAWING OF THE XVI CENTURY

A well executed art book on a neglected subject presents text, plates and notes, to cover the period between Leonardo's arrival at the court of Francis I through the 1590's, and is part of a projected series of four more volumes to bring French drawing up to the present day. Though the drawings that have come down to us from this century are few and far between, important ones have been collected here to reveal something of themselves, the times and the characters of their creators. After Leonardo came Clouet the elder who used chalk as his predominant medium. Following him at court was the violent and moody Rosso whose mysterious disappearance has been attributed to a depression over the ascendancy of Primaticcio who worked in ink and bistre and in sanguine. Primaticcio was popular, but so was Clouct's son Francois whose heads had a rather shallow prettiness and whose portraits played political roles too, during negotiations between Henry III and Elizabeth of England. Brief and to the point, the analysis is a mental and visual aid to the enjoyment of the 99 excellent full page reproductions.