Already in the twelfth century Abelard had initiated the spirit of free inquiry in theology; later, it was upon the love-songs of the trouveres or troubadours of Provence that Petrarch patterned his canzoniere, and from the fabliaux, popular in France, that Boccaccio derived the character and some of the themes of his Decameron.
While in the north France maintained close relations with Flanders, she was drawn into commercial relations with Italy, directly, in the south, and by way of the German cities and Burgundy on the east. Her political relations began, as we have noted, with the expedition of Charles VII to Naples, and were continued by the efforts of Louis XII and Francis I to secure and hold possessions in Italy. Even the latter’s disastrous defeat at Pavia did not discourage him from subsequent warlike enterprises, but meanwhile his zeal for things Italian caused him to invite many Italian artists to Fontainebleau. Henri II’s queen was Catherine de Medici and her children, Charles IX and Henri III, were brought up as Italianated Frenchmen.
Thus, during the sixteenth century the Court and nobility of France became largely Italianised in manners, although the survival of the Feudal system and the distinctly military character of the aristocracy rendered France very different from Italy in many vital particulars. For France was engaged in developing her nationality and these disintegrating and aggressive elements had to be subdued to the central authority—a process made more complex by the spread of the Reformation under the leadership of Calvin, so that the struggle was one of conscience as well as political power. But in the process France was awakened to a real sense of nationalism. The Gallic spirit became aware of itself and intent upon development and consolidation.
Consequently, the presence of such artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Del Sarto, Primaticcio, and Benvenuto Cellini could not stifle the native art. They left their impress on the decorations of Fontainebleau and served as models of superior knowledge and refinement to French painters and sculptors, yet did no more than modify the French originality of inspiration. Painters like the Clouets and the unnamed painter of the “Diana” of the Louvre and the sculptors Goujon and Pilon, despite some debt to Italian influence, preserved unmistakably their Gallic spirit, as we shall also find did the architects of the French châteaux.
It was the spirit that had created the miracles of Gothic architecture; a spirit highly adventurous, yet logical, which overflowed with enthusiasm for life, but was controlled by instinctive taste.
It suffered a clipping of its freedom when France was finally consolidated as a State and Absolutism was enthroned in the person of Louis XIV. Under the officialdom that he established French art was compelled to sit at the feet of the Italians. Yet, even so, the native genius shines through acquired affectations in the work of Poussin and Claude, while the eighteenth century witnessed the reblossoming of the Gallic spirit in the dainty fancies of Rococo decoration. On the other hand, the sterner issues of the Renaissance, as they affected political liberty, culminated after long delay in the Revolution.
That the Gallic genius has been and still remains a powerful factor in the progress of civilisation is due to its blend of the intellectual and the aesthetic faculties. It thinks clearly and feels subtly and adjusts thought and feeling into an admirable accord by its tact of taste. It approximates most closely to the quality of the old Greek genius. At its best, under the impulse of a high spiritual purpose, it has expressed itself in terms of Truth and Beauty that no modern nation has rivalled. Even when its motive has been trivial, its manner of expression has redeemed it from insignificance, the craftsmanship being in itself so true and beautiful. Moreover, the French spirit is so agile and responsive, that it has caught and reflected back the diverse thought and feeling of other countries, and, further, has so marked a strain of originality that it has preserved the faculty of creativeness.
NETHERLANDISH RENAISSANCE
The Netherlands, through their commercial intercourse with Italy, early came in touch with the Renaissance. But the self-reliance of the people was such that the earliest influence only improved their own way of expressing their racial consciousness. For example, the town halls in which the pride of their cities was enshrined, owed nothing to Italy except some later refinements of decoration. The painting of the Van Eycks was not only different from but technically superior to the contemporary art of Italy and furnished the latter with the practical processes of the oil medium. In time the mannerisms of Italian painting made themselves felt in the work of Van Orley and others, but the genuine reaction of the Flemish genius to the Italian Renaissance did not develop until the seventeenth century, when it produced a reinvigorated expression of itself in the genius of Rubens.
Political and religious causes, due to the grip of the Spanish rule, had retarded the progress of the Flemish provinces, while, on the other hand, it was the break away from this absolutism that started the northern provinces of Holland on their Renaissance. The Holland Renaissance of the seventeenth century, which moved step by step with their struggle for political and religious liberty and their consolidation into a united nation, represented a most remarkable blend of Humanism and Revival of Learning. It was unique at its time and has preserved its significance, because both these engines of activity were devoted deliberately to national and individual betterment. The Dutch zest of life stimulated them not only to obtain their liberty, but also to improve in a multitude of practical ways the conditions of living. It caused them to organise industry and commerce, to cultivate their land intensively and to extend their explorations and trade over the seven seas. Nor were the intellectual resources overlooked. The university of Leyden became a great centre of human culture and its scholars and scientists set the course of thought and research in the direction of modern life.