IV.

Patronage of Art and Learning

Francis adopted the pose of a chivalric king, the first gentleman of his kingdom, although his autocratic statecraft was imbued with a shrewd realism. His patronage of the arts was intended to augment the splendour of his court. He brought Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists to France to design and ornament his châteaux. He employed the scholar Guillaume Budé in creating a royal library and in founding professorships of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, which formed the nucleus of the later Collège de France.