GIROLAMO DA FIESOLE
(active 1499-1507 in France)

Tomb of Francis II of Brittany and his Wife Marguerite de Foix

1502-07
Marble
Cathedral of Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Nantes (Loire-Atlantique)

The last Duchess of Brittany, Anne - who added her duchy to France by marrying first King Charles VIII and then King Louis XII - erected this monument to her parents. It is a work of collaboration, the story of which complex and in many points obscure. In 1500 the Italian sculptor Girolamo da Fiesole was commissioned by Anne to carry out at any rate some part of the work. At the end of the same year Anne seems to have turned towards French artists, Michel Colombe and Jean Perréal. Work has been started by these two artists in 1502, apparently with Perréal in charge and supplying the general design and Colombe working out the detail of the sculpture. It is, however, likely that the sarcophagus was made by an Italian, Girolamo da Fiesole. The tomb was finally erected in 1507.

The tomb is located in the southern transept of the cathedral. It is also the tomb of Marguerite de Bretagne (first spouse of François II) and of Arthur III de Bretagne (uncle of François II).




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