Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/561

 FRENCH RENAISSANCE. 503 Loire district of central France, and possesses a semi-fortified character. The traditional circular towers of defence, roofed with slate covered cones, are incorporated in a palace design infused with Italian detail. , These conical roofs are broken up, where possible, by rich dormers (No. 225 k, l, m) and tall chimneys, which give to the building its characteristic confusion, yet richness, of sky-line. The main block, 220 feet square, correspondmg to the keep of an English castle, was surrounded, and protected on three sides, by buildings inclosing a courtyard ; while the fourth side was defended by a moat. The central feature, or "donjon," is square on plan, with four halls as lofty as the nave of a church, and tunnel-vaulted with coffered sinkings. At the junction of these halls is the famous double spiral staircase, built up in a cage of stone, whose crown- ing lantern is the central object of the external grouping. The smallness of scale in regard to mouldings, the flatness of the projection to the pilasters, the Gothic feeling throughout the design, especially the high-pitched roofs, the ornamented chim- neys, and the general vertical treatment of the features, make this example one of the most characteristic of Early French Renaissance buildings. An English version is the Royal Holloway College, Eghani. It may be compared with advantage to the pentagonal semi-fortress of Caprarola (No. 201), by Vignola (page 463). The Palace at Fontainebleau (a.d. 1528) was erected by Le Breton, architect, for Francis I., whose favourite residence ir was. There is a remarkable irregularity in its plan, due in part to the convent it replaced, and Vignola and Serlio seem to have worked on the design. Contrary to Blois, the chief interest of this example lies in the sumptuous interiors, as in the saloons decorated by Benvenuto, Cellini, Primaticcio and Serlio (No. 225). The exterior is remarkably plain. Other noteworthy examples are the Chateau d'Azay-le- Rideau (a.d. 1520) ; the Chateau de Chenonceaux (a.d. 1515-1523), picturesquely situated by a lake, and standing for the most part on a bridge over the water, and the Chateau de S. Germain-en-Laye (a.d. 1539). The Louvre, Paris. — This may be taken as the most important building in the style, and its construction lasted from the time of Francis I. to Louis XIV., the building exhibiting, in consequence, a complete history of the progressive stages of the French Renaissance style, as shown on No. 220 f. The general design of the Louvre was originally intended to cover the ground of the fortified Gothic palace which it replaced. The present design consists of two stories and an attic (No. 220 e), arranged round a courtyard, 400 feet square. Pierre Lescot (a.d. 1515-1578), the first architect, commenced the work in 1540, under Italian influence, but the original design