poison in 1541. Then Primaticcio, who, to humor his rival had been sent
into honorable exile (on plea of collecting antiquities at Rome), was
summoned back, and destroyed most of Il Rosso's frescoes, replacing them
by his own. Those that remain are now painted over, and no works of Il
Rosso are still in existence (unless in engravings) except some of his
frescoes at Florence.

With the Italian style of buildings and decorations, the Italian system of
a Court adorned by ladies was first introduced here under Francois I., and
soon became a necessity.... Under Francois I., his beautiful mistress, the
Duchesse d'Etampes--"la plus belle des savantes, et la plus savante des
belles," directed all the fetes. In this she was succeeded, under Henry
II., by Diane de Poitiers, whose monogram, interwoven with that of the
king, appears in all the buildings of this time, and who is represented as
a goddess (Diana) in the paintings of Primaticcio.

Under Francois II., in 1560, by the advice of the queen-mother, an
assembly of notables was summoned at Fontainebleau; and here, accompanied
by her 150 beautiful maids of honor, Catherine de Medici received the
embassy of the Catholic sovereigns sent to demand the execution of the
articles of the Council of Trent, and calling for fresh persecution of the
reformers.

Much as his predecessors had accomplished, Henri IV. did more for the
embellishment of Fontainebleau, where the monogram of his mistress,
Gabrielle d'Estrees, is frequently seen mingled with that of his wife,
Marie de Medici. All the Bourbon kings had a passion for hunting, for
which Fontainebleau afforded especial facilities.

It was at Fontainebleau that Louis XIII. was born, and that the Marechal