Virtual tour

Champagne, a hive of activity at the crossroads to Europe

During the 16^th century, in the wake of the Hundred Years war which ruined the entire province, Troyes, situated along one the major international trade routes, prospered again.
Its fairs, the merchants’ sense of initiative as they travelled within France and overseas, all helped to develop new tastes:
Florentin and Primatice journeyed to Italy, to England and throughout the kingdom; members of the aristocracy travelled between Rome, London and Paris. Jean de Dinteville, part of a great episcopal family and ambassador to Francis I at Henry VIII’s court in England, adorned his castle at Polisy by calling upon the greatest artists of the Renaissance: Hans Holbein, Sebastiano Serlio, Primatice and Florentin.

As the Gothic style faded, so art from the School of Troyes flourished

Mannerism from Italy and Flanders took root. Since the Middle Ages, Troyes has been recognised for the exceptional quality of its ymagiers, or master craftsmen, who found renewed enthusiasm in avant-gardism and the latest trends revealed by engravings by Dürer and Cranach.

The influence of Italian Renaissance

Dominique Florentin settled in Troyes and worked together with local workshops and masters.
Under the rule of Francis I, he was called to assist in the building at Fontainebleau alongside Primatice, where he helped develop new styles as he brought his Italian know-how to Champagne.

A renewed expression of religious sentiment

The purest expressions of sobriety and reverence inherited from the Master of Chaource were discarded in favour of drapery, more sophisticated postures and better defined facial expressions.