Francesco Primaticcio (1504 – 1570)

• Was an Italian painter, architect and decorator.
• A pupil of Giulio Romano, with whom he collaborated in the decoration of the Palazzo Te in Mantua.

• In 1532, he went to the castle of Fontainebleau at the invitation of King Francis I of France, where he collaborated with Francesco Caccianemici and Rosso Fiorentino.

• After whose death, in 1540, he succeeded to the office of "superintendent", and with Antonio da Trento, with whom in 1533 he already directed the team in charge of decorating the rooms of the king and queen in the castle of Fontainebleau.

• In 1540 he went to Rome on behalf of the king to make casts from the collection of statues in the Belvedere Courtyard.

• He returned to France accompanied by Vignola. 

• He worked for four sovereigns: Francis I, Henry II, Francis II and Charles IX.

• The circulation of his models through printed engravings (with what was called the first "Ecole de Fontainebleau") was fundamental for the diffusion in France. 

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