France 1500 : Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Wonderful exhibition about French art at the cusp of the Renaissance in France at the Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais in Paris.

It focused on the reigns of Charles VIII (1483-1498) and Louis XII (1498-1515), and was dominated by the personality of Anne de Bretagne, successively the wife of both kings. The first section looked at the different noble courts and difference influences on them, the next at major projects and the final section looked at Northern and Southern influences.

I think this my favourite period of art where the Medieval is reaching a final glorious culmination and just developing into the Renaissance. People in the art look like archetypal medieval types in tights and pointed hats.

My favourite section focused on the work of Jean Hey, a Flemish artist working in France who probably studied under Hugo van der Goes.

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