Parrots, Princes, and Popes: Transla’o Imperii in Jean Clouet’s Portrait of Francis I as St. John the Bap’st

: At ﬁrst glance, a green parrot featured in Jean Clouet’s Portrait of Francis I as St. John the Bap<st appears out of place. The parrot was a prized import that ﬁrst graced Europe upon Alexander the Great’s victorious return from his conquest of the Persian Empire and India. Why is this foreign bird exhibited in a sixteenth-century French royal portrait? Repeated in a portrait of Francis I’s sister, Marguerite d’Angoulême, the green parrot was evidently no casual inclusion. Francis I’s green parrot contains a complex visual message. Considering the implicaMons of the parrot and the ambiMons of Francis I, this paper will argue that the appearance of this parMcular bird served to glorify and endorse a new branch of the Valois dynasty.

emperor and pronounce the words it has heard spoken." 4 Pliny's comment about saluMng an emperor refers to an incident following the Bacle of AcMum in 31 BCE when Octavian (soon to become Emperor Augustus) defeated Mark Antony and claimed the Roman imperial Mtle.A parrot called from a crowd of Octavian's supporters, "Hail Caesar, conqueror and leader"-an act that spoke to the parrot's remarkable capabiliMes and its owner's loyalty. 5This wording and delivery revealed the existence of some human faculMes in the bird.The parrot could idenMfy an emperor; this act was more than just repeaMng a phrase on command.The storyline of Caesar Augustus and the parrot was integrated into the narraMve of several medieval rulers, lending them legiMmacy.For example, Thomas de CanMmpré's On the Nature of Things, wricen in 1240 and read widely in the sixteenth century, was an encyclopedia of the natural sciences intended for the clergy.The text includes an entry about King Charles I of France and a parrot.While Charles was traveling through Greece, he encountered some parrots who called out to him in Greek saying: "Farewell, Emperor."Thomas explains that this was a prophecy because at the Mme Charles was only the king of France, and not yet Emperor Charlemagne. 6References to parrots by Aristotle, Pliny, and Thomas de CanMmpré ensured that by the sixteenth century parrots were linked to emperors in the courtly imaginaMon.
Although naMve to India, parrots made their way to Europe in different ways throughout the centuries.In anMquity, aeer Alexander's iniMal introducMon, parrots were bred in Greece and traded in Egypt. 7While they conMnued to be bred locally throughout the Middle Ages, they were also imported through Venice and ConstanMnople.By the sixteenth century, Spain had begun to import them from the AtlanMc world; however, the Alexandrine parrot and the Green Indian parakeet are not indigenous to the Americas, and they would not have been among the parrot species introduced to the European market by Spain. 8The bird that appears in Francis I's portrait-the Indian parrot, which was the species most entangled in the narraMves of emperors-carries parMcular economic and imperialist connotaMons that warrant scholarly exploraMon.
Throughout the fieeenth and sixteenth centuries, the foreign origins and exoMcized features of parrots rendered them commodiMes of status.Along with elephants, monkeys, and giraffes, parrots were oeen included in Renaissance menageries of kings, emperors, and popes. 9A king's possession of a 4 Pliny the Elder, Natural History, X.LVIII. 5This anecdote is recalled in Macrobius's Saturnalia from the fourth century CE.Macrobius, Saturnalia, Volume I: Books 1-2 (III.XXX), ed. and trans.by Robert A. Kaster (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011), 359. 6Thomas de Can8mpré, On the Nature of Things V.CIX. 7Boehrer, Parrot Culture, 10. 8 Forshaw explains the geographic distribu8on of the Alexandrine parrot, Parrots of the World, 162 and the Green Indian parakeet, Parrots of the World, 160. 9 On Renaissance menageries and their elite nature, see Erik  2017): 277-96.In 1912, French zoologist Gustave Loisel published a three-volume history of royal menageries from an8quity to the early twen8eth century.Loisel devotes a chapter to the exo8c possessions and medieval menageries of France, considering French monarchs from Charlemagne to Francis I. Francis receives an en8re sec8on en8tled "Les animaux de François Ier" in which Loisel details the king's preoccupa8on with exo8c animals and includes several accounts of him exhibi8ng them.Francis' lions and leopards feature prominently, par8cularly in spectacles of hun8ng and combat.The detailed knowledge and evidence of Francis' menagerie is important since his great rival Charles V only receives a brief men8on (because he had a monkey who played chess) and Maximilian I is not discussed at all.Gustave Loisel, Histoire des menageries de l'an9quité à nos jours (Paris: O. Diens, 1912), 1:160-182; 1:263-270; 1:212.magnificent creature like a parrot made the king, by ownership and proximity, a magnificent king.10Synonymous with economic success and social rank, simply owning a parrot indicated that its owners could afford the cost of import, and they would accordingly boast their financial abundance by parading the vibrant, charming birds.
Lauded as clever speakers by ancient authors, the birds would also signify an owner's intellectual sophisMcaMon.Their ability to precisely mimic human speech earned parrots a reputaMon for eloquence, and they were accordingly likened to poets.Oeen featured as protagonists in late medieval literature, their presence within the social landscape of the early modern court was underwricen by the intellectual achievements of the past.11Despite such romanMc affiliaMons, a parrot can only faithfully repeat words that it has heard spoken.The implicaMon of this skill is that the parrot can only speak honestly-no unspoken words or deceit will come from their mouths.Truthful oeen to a fault, the parrot and his dependable voice provided opportunity for social commentary and moral instrucMon.
The wonder of the parrot derives from its uncanny ability to proffer words, astounding its audience in the same way as excellent orators do through their uncanny use of words.12Its eloquence and honesty may explain the noMon that God favored the parrot.The parrot, who comes to Earth from Heaven, speaks and speaks well by the grace of God. 13 These desirable traits allowed it to be a compelling and dynamic messenger of God's decrees.Because it was able to relay God's message without altering it, the parrot was associated with the angelic salutaMon of Gabriel upon announcing God's divine will to Mary.The "Ave" of the angelic salutaMon in LaMn was supposed to be the natural greeMng of the parrot, and on this account, the bird became a symbol of trustworthy prophecy and an allusion to the mystery of the IncarnaMon, in parMcular Mary's virgin birth of the Messiah. 14The spoken word was a key element in the concept of the IncarnaMon.The Gospel of John explained, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," and "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth." 15The Virgin did conceive by the Word of God as acknowledged by the Gospel of Luke and understood in Mary's response to the Archangel Gabriel: "Be it done to me according to thy Word."16Jan van Eyck's Madonna with the Canon van der Paele (Groeningenmuseum, Bruges, 1434-36) refers to the complex symbolism associated with the parrot.The green parrot, more than likely the Green Indian parakeet, rests in the Virgin's lap, where it is peced by the Christ Child.With its head facing the enthroned Virgin, the parrot, as the central point of the painMng, represents the "Word made flesh," reminding viewers and believers of the faithfulness and truth of God's decrees. 17he parrot as a religious moMf and a prophet brings our discussion back to Clouet's crypMc portrait and Francis I.At his birth, Francis I seemed unlikely to become king because he was only the cousin of Charles VIII, the reigning monarch, and Louis, Duc d'Orleans (later Louis XII) was next in line to the throne.However, in 1515, Francis succeeded his cousin and father-in-law, Louis XII, who died without a son. 18The early uncertainty of Francis I's status as heir and the successive events that cleared his path to the French throne were acributed to desMny and God's will and were most certainly wrapped up in the construcMon of his royal image.Clouet's Francis I as St. John the Bap<st, dated 1518-20, is an early portrait of the new king. 19Seated and dressed in fur, Francis points to the lamb in his lap.Iconographically, this portrait fits tradiMonal depicMons of St. John the BapMst.However, several modificaMons alert the viewer to the fact that this is not St.John, but Francis I. 20 The king does not wear the typical camel skin of St. John the BapMst who lived in the wilderness; instead, he is clad in a wild cat or dark ermine fur-more befitng of his status. 21Furthermore, Francis makes direct eye contact with his viewer-the prerogaMve of a king.
St. John's primary acribute, the lamb, sits in Francis I's lap and carries a meaning similar to that of the parrot.St. John was the first to recognize Christ as the Son of God, exclaiming when Christ passed, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 22 This heralding of Christ is usually visualized by a poinMng gesture.In the Clouet portrait, Francis I, like St. John the BapMst, points to the lamb. 23With his gesture towards the lamb while gazing at the viewer, Francis reminds us of St. John's propheMc knowledge of Christ as the Savior. 24It is in light of this knowledge combined with the propheMc powers of the parrot that the viewer can now make sense of the inclusion of this bird. 25Just as Francis I points to the lamb, so too does the parrot "point to" Francis I. Through its allusion to the IncarnaMon, the parrot, like St. John, confirms the veracity of the divine prophecy: the lamb is the Word.On the other hand, the parrot's acenMon to and implicit recogniMon of Francis I is meant as a heralding acMon akin to its saluMng, "Hail Caesar," in recogniMon of Caesar Augustus.The parrot therefore seems to indicate Francis I's expectaMon of receiving the Mtle of emperor.This symbolism, paired with the daMng of the portrait, creates a clear allusion to the imperial elecMon of 1519.With the death of Maximilian I in January 1519, an imperial elecMon was required to determine his successor, and the primary contenders were Francis I and Charles of Spain (the future Emperor Charles V). France's wars in Italy had insMgated an intense rivalry between Francis I and Charles, who ruled Spain, Austria, and a number of territories surrounding France, making him a constant threat to Francis I's kingdom.The Mtle of Holy Roman Emperor carried immense power and presMge; Francis parMcularly coveted this Mtle since it had first been held by Charlemagne.Despite his iniMal potenMal, Francis could not garner German support, and he withdrew two days before the elecMon, ensuring that Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor. 26hile the Clouet painMng features Francis I as St. John the BapMst, a later painMng by an unidenMfied master (now in the Musée d'Art et Histoire, Cognac) depicts Francis I along with St. John himself.Dated to the late 1520s, St. John the Bap<st Preaching in the Presence of Francis I speaks to the persistent imagery of the king as a divinely chosen monarch [Figure 3]. 27However, there is no parrot present to signal his imperial prerogaMves; in this painMng, the task of "announcing" the king is given to St. John.Rather than poinMng to the symbolic Lamb of God at his feet, the saint gestures across the crowd to a figure portraying Francis I. 28 The king looks knowingly at the viewer, fully aware of his heavenly duty as God's chosen.Placed behind St. John's legs, Marguerite d'Angoulême is also portrayed here and gazes at the viewer like her brother.She was crowned Queen of Navarre in 1527, due to her brother's matchmaking work, around the same Mme that this work was completed.Here, she acknowledges Francis I's power and divine anointment.The arMst and the patron of this painMng is unknown, but the message is unambiguous and reflects Francis I's Mtle as the "Most ChrisMan King."The Mtle Rex Chris<anissimus or Roi Très-Chré<en was bestowed upon French kings in the thirteenth century by the papacy for their devoMon to the ChrisMan faith.It became recognized as a hereditary and exclusive Mtle of the Kings of France. 29This allowed French kings to establish themselves as the inheritors of the ChrisMan kingdom, as well as the divinely sancMoned rulers of France.Reminding the viewer of Francis I's status as Roi Très-Chré<en, St. John the Bap<st Preaching in the Presence of Francis I may be a Mmely allusion to the disarray of the papacy in the 25 The most frequently agreed upon interpreta8on of the parrot in Francis I's portrait is the parrot as a symbol of eloquence.Lecoq proposes the parrot as a symbol of eloquence, fi{ng for the patron saint of preachers and a Renaissance king.She uses Cesare Ripa's discussion of "Eloquence" in his Iconologia to establish this connec8on.Lecoq, "François Ier en saint Jean-Bap9ste," 32-3; Scailliérez also points to the eloquent parrot as an appropriate symbol for both Francis I and Marguerite d'Angoulême.Scailliérez, François Ier par Clouet, 91-4; Brigile Walbe leans into the religious interpreta8on of the parrot as a symbol of redemp8on from original sin, ci8ng Albrecht Dürer and Hans Burgkmair.Francis I points to the redeemer of mankind (Christ, the lamb of God) which is an indicator of the religious devo8on of the young king as well as his worthiness.Walbe, "Studien zur Entwicklung des allegorischen Porträts," 37-9. 26R.J. Knecht, Francis I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 71-7. 27This was an appropriate 8me to promote this type of imagery since Francis I had only been released from Spain in 1526.For Francis I's defeat and capture at the Balle of Pavia as well as his subsequent imprisonment, see R.J. Knecht, Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I (Cambridge: New York, 1994), 216-48. 28Mansfield, Representa9ons of Renaissance Monarchy, 2. 29 The French royal 8tle was dis8nct from the Spanish royal 8tle "Reges Catholici" (Catholic Kings): Jack Freiberg, Bramante's Tempiebo, the Roman Renaissance, and the Spanish Crown aeermath of the 1527 Sack of Rome which was carried out by the muMnous troops of Charles V.This portrayal of Francis as divinely chosen presents him in stark contrast to the elected Holy Roman Emperor whose army had devastated the Eternal City.
The pope's role and influence in the macers of ChrisMan Europe are also evoked in the Clouet portrait, in parMcular through the presence of the parrot.Leo X (r.1513-1521) was the pope at the Mme of the painMng's execuMon.Born Giovanni de' Medici, Leo X was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici; he combined the wealth and might of the Medici family with the poliMcal and religious power of the papacy, which made him a necessary ally for the ambiMous Francis I. Examining Clouet's portrait, we can discern associaMons between the prince and the pope.The sixteenth-century French word for parrot was papegay or perroquet. 30Pape is the French word for pope, creaMng a word associaMon with papegay. 31In this interpretaMon, the parrot becomes a metaphor for the pope-a stand in for Pope Leo X. 32 Taking this observaMon one step further, it can be said that the parrot evokes a strategic relaMonship between Francis I and Pape Leo X based on mutual favor and support, which was indeed the case.
Following the French victory at the Bacle of Marignano in September 1515, which enabled France to capture Milan, Francis I needed the pope in order to maintain his posiMon in Italy. 33The Concordat of Bologna, signed August 18, 1516, created a personal relaMonship between Francis I and Leo X and delineated their sphere of influence in a manner that benefited both parMes.The pope was permiced to collect the income of the Catholic Church in France, while the king could tax French clergy.French bishops, abbots, and priors were appointed by Francis I, but the appointments could be vetoed by Leo X.Most notably for the papacy, the Concordat abolished the PragmaMc SancMon of Bourges (1438), a document that asserted that the General Council of the Church in France was superior in authority to the pope.The PragmaMc SancMon was a largely symbolic document that offended the papacy.Nevertheless, the provisions of the Concordat allowed Francis I to maintain most of the privileges that he enjoyed under the PragmaMc SancMon. 34To seal their alliance, Leo X gave the French king a reliquary cross containing a piece of the True Cross, the cross on which Christ was crucified.This gie validated Francis I as the Roi Très-Chré<en and was meant to encourage him to lead a crusade.In addiMon, the pope had a seal made for each party.The seals were an image of the cross with the three nails that included the moco "In hoc signo vinces," or "In this sign you will conquer."Through this evident reference to Emperor ConstanMne, Leo X 30 Sixteenth-century French naturalist Pierre Belon traveled widely in the 1540s, documen8ng animals and plants and then comparing his observa8ons to descrip8ons by classical authors.The parrot appears in two of his publica8ons, L'histoire de la nature des oyseaux, avec leurs descrip9ons, & naïfs portraits re9rez du naturel (Paris: 1555) and Portraits d'oyseaux, animaux, serpens, herbes, arbres, hommes et femmes d'Arabie et d'Égypte: le tout enrichy de quatrains, pour plus facile cognoissance des oyseaux et autres portraits (Paris: 1557).His commentary on parrots simply restates the tropes established by Aristotle and Pliny, perpetua8ng the associa8on of the parrot with India, wine, and the ability to learn human speech.Belon refers to the bird as "Le Papegay est aussi nommé un Perroquet" (1555) and "Les Papegays, que Perroquets on nomme" (1557). 31Gustave Loisel's history of menageries details the papal preference for parrots.He explains that popes joined the "le mouvement général de grande lux" and acquired "animaux d'appartement, des oiseaux, surtout des perroquets."Loisel, 1:202. 32The parrot's sacred associa8ons directly related it to the Catholic belief and the papacy which was taken advantage of by Protestants.Mar8n Luther supposedly thought that parrots, like popes, were decep8ve, remarking in Table Talk (Tischreden) "I believe the devil resides in parakeets and parrots…because they can imitate people."Noble, "The Kind of Virgin That Keeps a Parrot," 706.In his ar8cle, Boehrer explains how the parrot evolved "into an emblem of mindless repe88on at the hands of first-genera8on Protestant reformers, who use it to exemplify the alleged ignorance of Catholic priests and the alleged emp8ness of Catholic rituals."Boehrer, "The Cardinal's Parrot," 1-37. 33This victory was not las8ng.By 1521 Francis I was forced to abandon Milan to Charles V's forces, losing the ground he had gained in 1515.Knecht, Francis I, 33-50. 34French subjects resented having to relinquish their symbolic sovereignty; however, Francis I saw an alliance with the pope as more advantageous.Knecht, Francis I, 52-6.assimilated Francis I with the figure of the Holy Roman Emperor, exhorMng him to undertake the crusade, but also suggesMng his own support in any future imperial elecMon. 35Furthermore, the Concordat of Bologna was commemorated in a fresco (1516-17) at the VaMcan Palace by Raphael and his assistants.Instead of depicMng the meeMng in Bologna, the scene portrayed the coronaMon of Charlemagne; however, Leo III is a portrait of Leo X, and Charlemagne is a portrait of Francis I [Figure 4]. 36Layered with these allusions to the great ChrisMan rulers of the past, Francis I's portrait as Charlemagne compelled the viewers to recognize the French king as a divinely pre-ordained emperor.Francis I could therefore count on the pope's approval.It is this harmony with the papacy that is alluded to in the Clouet portrait.
Although Francis I did not win the imperial elecMon, Leo X was a stark supporter of Francis I and acMvely campaigned for him.This significant endorsement also relates to the presence of the parrot in the Clouet portrait.In Leo X's calculaMons, Charles of Spain's bid for the Mtle of Holy Roman Emperor was a greater threat than Francis I's.Charles already ruled Naples, and upon his appointment, he would gain territory in Northern Italy, causing the Empire to effecMvely surround the papal states.While the pope could not cast a vote, Leo X went to considerable lengths in order to secure votes for his candidate.He sent envoys to Germany to cast doubt on Charles's ability and eligibility.In addiMon, Leo X authorized Francis I to promise archbishop seats and cardinal posiMons in return for votes. 37Clouet's portrait conveys Leo X's investment in and support of Francis I.The parrot, looking to Francis I, included a double meaning-the parrot as the herald of Roman emperors and the parrot not only as a symbol of God's will, but as the representaMve of God's authority on earth, the pope, thus sancMoning the French king's bid for the Mtle of Holy Roman Emperor.In addiMon, the parrot not only indicated Leo X's privileging of Francis I, but it also exhibited Francis I's faithfulness to Leo X.The Italian word for parrot-pappagallo-could be interpreted as "papa gallo," or the French pope. 38The assimilaMon of Francis I with St. John the BapMst can be explained as the king's support of Leo X's papacy as the legiMmate heir of the Holy Lamb, as well as his support of future Medici popes.This understanding was important to Leo X, who wanted his cousin, Giulio, who later became Pope Clement VII, as his successor.The Clouet painMng displays the beneficial alliance between the king and the pope by idenMfying Leo X as a "French pope"-a pap(p)agallo. 39ike his predecessors, Francis I had territorial ambiMons in the Italian city-states, and ciMng dynasMc claims through his great-grandmother ValenMna VisconM, he invaded Italy in the first year of his reign.Francis I was proclaimed the new Julius Caesar aeer his early victory at Marignano, and he was poised to play a dominant role in European poliMcs. 40Again, the parrot in Clouet's portrait and his greeMng of "Hail Caesar!" enters the conversaMon as a designaMon of Francis I's status and ambiMon.Francis had extended 35 Constan8ne, the first Chris8an Roman Emperor, had allegedly been told the words "In hoc signo vinces" at his conversion.Eusebius, Vita Constan9ni 1.28. 36Lecoq discusses Francis I as the new Constan8ne at great length and includes The Corona9on of Charlemagne in her analysis.Anne-Marie Lecoq, François Ier imaginaire: Symbolique et Poli9que à l'Aube de la Renaissance française (Paris: Macula, 1987), 259-323; For the details surrounding Francis I's gi•s, see Knecht, Renaissance Warrior and Patron, 103-04. 37Buying votes was not uncommon in this process.Among other reasons, Charles V secured his win by buying the seven votes.Knecht, Francis I, 74-7. 38"Papa" is the Italian term for "pope" and, "Gallo" refers to the ancient territory of Gaul, which comprised most of modern France.I would like to thank Dr. Lorenzo Pericolo for drawing my alen8on to this Italian pun. 39In addi8on to the imperial elec8on, the two allied themselves several 8mes early in Francis I's reign: Francis I appointed the pope's brother, Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours in 1515, and in 1518, Lorenzo II de' Medici, the pope's nephew, married Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, a rela8ve of Francis I. 40 Lecoq points to the declara8on of Francis I as the new Julius Caesar a•er his victory at Marignano as the reason for the parrot in the Clouet portrait.The parrot was intended to mark this declara8on since the parrot was linked to the gree8ng of emperors.However, she dates the Clouet portrait to 1520 which was five years a•er his victory and a•er he had lost the most important emperor 8tle, Holy Roman Emperor.In addi8on, by late 1519, Charles V was closing in on Francis I's territorial possession making his posi8on much more precarious.Lecoq, "François Ier en saint Jean-Bap9ste," 34-5.
the borders of his kingdom, but there was sMll more that he desired-an implicaMon of the portrait's agenda conveyed by the verdant bird.The parrot, as symbolic compensaMon for a distant, but commodifiable physical space, embodies the intenMons and might of the possessor.Its posiMon in the upper lee corner of the composiMon-just above the king but clearly sMll within his own spaMal jurisdicMon-signifies a capacity to expand into, and establish ownership of, a place beyond his kingdom's current boundaries. 41Just as the green parrot symbolized the conquests made by Alexander the Great in enlarging his empire, so too does the parrot in the Clouet portrait convey Francis I's desire to add unconquered lands to his kingdom in emulaMon of his Roman imperial predecessors.
The Clouet portrait is not the only work at this Mme to link Francis I's to imperial predecessors.Thought to be a commemoraMon of Francis I's triumph, the Commentaires de la guerre gallique is a manuscript in three volumes detailing a ficMMous dialogue between the French king and Julius Caesar, in which the pair discuss military victories and the Gallic Wars. 42Volume one contains two portrait medallions of the French king and the Roman emperor, both acributed to Jean Clouet.Francis, depicted in the larger of the two illuminaMons, is situated above the profile portrait of Julius Caesar [Figure 5]. 43An inscripMon at the beginning of the volume reads, "Francis by the grace of God King of France, second Caesar."These links to Julius Caesar conceivably point to the land that he primarily occupied-Italy.Leading the viewer to believe that Francis was the legiMmate successor of Julius Caesar and jusMfied in his military campaigns in Italy.
As the successor of Julius Caesar and the righxul ruler of Italy, Francis I pursued the ideal of a French universal monarchy.The Mtle of Holy Roman Emperor was rooted in the concept of transla<o imperii, the "translaMon of empire," or the linear transfer of power from one supreme ruler to another.Maximilian I uMlized this noMon during his tenure as Holy Roman Emperor, claiming that the Mtle and status of the appointment belonged to him and those with German heritage because of Charlemagne's associaMon with Germanic territories. 44However, for France, Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, the King of the Lombards, and the Emperor of the Romans, was the true precedent, and his legacy was desMned to be followed by French kings.In the late fourteenth century, the hermit Telesphorus of Cosenza foretold the "Second Charlemagne" and spoke of a "roi aux trois couronnes."Since the king was to be the second Charlemagne, the crowns were the two temporal crowns of France and Italy and then the spiritual crown of ChrisManity.This king would vanquish the Muslims, resulMng in a universal ChrisMan monarchy and a renewal of the world, renova<o mundi. 45While the original prophecy was meant to indicate King Charles VI 41 Boehrer applies this considera8on to Alexander the Great, although it can also apply to Francis I and other Renaissance kings with imperial mo8ves.Boehrer, Parrot Culture, 5. Using animals to convey possession and power is a tac8c that Francis employed in other commissions.Most memorably at the Château Fontainebleau, the Galerie François Premier's decora8ve program includes a royal entry with an elephant.The elephant depicted in one of the frescos is understood to be a symbol of the king himself, magnificent and powerful.See Dora and Erwin Panofsky, "The Iconography of the Galerie François Ier at Fontainebleau," Gazebe des Beaux-Arts, vol.52 (1958): 113-90. 42The first two volumes of the Commentaires de la guerre gallique were completed in 1519 and the third in 1520.The third volume downplays Francis I's imperial ambi8ons since he had lost the Holy Roman Emperor elec8on.For detailed informa8on about the Commentaires de la guerre gallique, see Anne-Marie Lecoq, François Ier Imaginaire, 229-44; Myra D.  Orth, Renaissance Manuscripts: The Sixteenth Century (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2015); and François Rouget, François Ier et la vie libéraire de son temps (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2017) 167-82. 43The medallion portrait, in addi8on to illumina8ng the established rela8onship between Francis and Julius Caesar, provides a likeness comparison to the face of Francis in Clouet's portrait [Figure 1].Both versions show the same faint beard-a helpful detail that argues for the portrait's comple8on before the Imperial Elec8on of 1519.This comparison would suggest that both portraits were done at a similar 8me.Since the Commentaires de la guerre gallique portrait was completed by 1519, the same could be said for Francis Ier as St. John the Bap9st.Janet Cox-Rearick, The Collec9on of Francis I: Royal Treasures (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996), 5. 44 Maximilian I's belief in his role in the transla9o imperii is explained by Larry Silver.Larry Silver, Marke9ng Maximilian: The Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), Chapter 3. 45 Jean-François Dubost, La France italienne: XVIe-XVIIe (Mayenne: Aubier, 1997), 71.
of France (1380-1422) as the second Charlemagne, the text of this prophecy was published in 1516, the second year of Francis I's reign, and conMnued to be published throughout the sixteenth century. 46With his victory at Marignano granMng him a foothold in Italy, Francis I began to align his own Mtles with those of Charlemagne.Francis I was, therefore, the heir of Charlemagne and the "Second Charlemagne" that was prophesied. 47he meaning of the green parrot in Clouet's Portrait of Marguerite d'Angoulême becomes clearer once the symbolism of Francis I's green parrot has been established [Figure 2].Following the death of her first husband, Charles IV, Duc d'Alençon, Marguerite married Henri II of Navarre in 1527, making the Valois princess Queen of Navarre.The portrait most likely marked the occasion of her wedding, which had been arranged as a result of Francis I's capMvity in Madrid.Seated against a red damask background, Marguerite, like her brother in the Clouet portrait, gazes at the viewer.The ruffle of her sumptuous sleeves fills the lower half of the image and provides a material contrast to the green parrot that perches on her right hand.Marguerite's portrait, a rather standard royal portrait aside from the parrot, is not a crypMc portrait like her brother's.The eight-year gap between these two portraits indicates that the meaning of the parrot relies on the specific symbolism of Clouet's Portrait of Francis I as St. John the Bap<st. 48Marguerite's parrot appears more passive.The parrot does not face her; instead, it gazes beyond the portrait, perhaps even looks to the viewer.This pose is very different from that of Francis I's parrot, who cranes its neck and posiMons its body to face the king.Marguerite's parrot is not a bold symbol of empire, but a nod to Francis I.As a subtle emblem of her brother, the parrot communicates the Valois family's status and Francis I's achievements. 49Marguerite acknowledges and honors her brother by including such a prominent green parrot in her portrait.
The parrot, a secular and religious symbol, served to visually communicate the ambiMons of a king who claimed earthly and spiritual crowns.Although an exoMc bird, the parrot embodied European imperial intenMons.Alluding to past and future achievements, Jean Clouet's Portrait of Francis I as St. John the Bap<st alerts the viewer to Francis I's aspiraMons to rule over Christendom.As the righxul successor of St. John the BapMst, Julius Caesar, and Charlemagne, Francis I and his green parrot signal, early in his reign, the coming glory of the Angoulême branch of the Valois dynasty.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 60-1; The origins of the French 8tle are discussed by Colele Beaune, The Birth of an Ideology: Myths and Symbols of Na9on in Late-Medieval France, trans.Susan Ross Huston (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 172-93.