Sebastiano Serlio, an Italian architect lured to France by François I to work on Fontainebleau, was the architect of the château d'Ancy-le-Franc; it is the only other example of his work to survive.
However, Serlio was hugely influential not because of his buildings, but because starting in 1537 he published what would eventually be an 7 or 8-volume set on architecture, "All the works of Architecture and Perspective." His books catered to the needs of architects, builders and craftsmen, and pioneered the use of high quality illustrations--over 300 woodcuts--to supplement the text. In fact, the illustrations were as important as the text.
Using Roman architecture as its ideal, the volumes laid out the principals of architecture: geometry, perspective, the monuments of antiquity, and the various Orders (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite) as found in antique ruins and the text of Vitruvius, and then applied these orders to the design of doors, fireplaces, facades, churches and house design. The last book illustrated a range of common design problems such as how to remodel Gothic facades.
Because of Serlio's volumes--which were quickly translated into French, English, Dutch, Flemish and Spanish-- the Italian Renaissance style became the standard architectural model in France, England and the Netherlands. His illustrations of Roman buildings provided a repertory of classical images, and were often reprinted.
Serlio's books influenced later architects. Sir Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones had copies in their libraries, as did John Wood the Elder, the entrepreneur who laid out Bath. Today, Serlio's original volumes are carefully preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University, the British library, but copies are available digitally.
The first image shows the woodcut of the five orders.
The second image illustrates the elevation and floorplan of a beautiful house in the country from book 6, (which had been lost. The manuscript was only found in the twentieth century and published in 1966.) The similarity to the floorplan and facade of
Château d'Ancy-le-Franc is clear.
Images three and four are those I posted several days ago of the floorplan and entrance facade of d'Ancy-le-Franc. As the Italian styles leaked into France, one adaptation was the roofs. The northern clime needed steeper roofs.