Drawing Blood : The Visual Patronage of Robert Stuart d’Aubigny, Maréchal of France, in Relation to James V’s French Sojourn of 1536

Robert Stuart was an important Franco-Scottish commander active during the French invasions of Italy in the first half of the sixteenth century. In French military service he rose to the exalted position of marechal of France. This paper examines Robert’s patronage of architectural and visual material in relation to the documentary evidence of his career c.1508-1544. Of particular interest is the campaign of architectural and decorative work he commissioned for the aggrandizement of his two principal residences: the château at Aubigny-sur-Nere and La Verrerie. This paper investigates whether these campaigns of work may have been undertaken in relation to a royal visit by James V during the Scottish king’s tour of France in 1536-7. It is hypothesised that the extensive campaign of work undertaken at La Verrerie, particularly the painted architectural work, was executed in preparation for this event. It is further proposed that the strong iconographic stress of royal Stuart lineage was commissioned with a royal Scottish audience in mind. “Drawing blood” thus refers to the visual stress placed on royal lineage and hereditary claims. The study stresses not only the importance of Robert’s patronage in terms of his self-fashioning in a French courtly context, but also explores the weight he placed on ensuring the preservation of close ties with the royal House of Scotland. Suggestions are made, furthermore, as to how James V may have perceived such a reception at La Verrerie, and how it may have influenced his own building and decorative campaigns back in Scotland. Furthermore, the importance of Robert as a conduit for the transmission of Italian Renaissance aesthetics into France is explored here for the first time.