Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/362

344 style. The dimensions of the cloister are very small, (suited however to the foundation); the arcades are open down to the level of the ground; the moulding of the ribs descend continuously along the piers, and their profiles, though open, are of good design. As the only medieval cloister extant in Paris, this, though rarely seen, should certainly be visited.

We come now to the closing style of the middle ages, that which in France has been termed the style of the Rénaissance des Arts,—a strange misnomer,—as if art had not existed in the most intense degree throughout many preceding centuries! A more appropriate appellation would have been that of the Franciscan style, as having derived its birth from the introduction of Italian art into France during the reign of Francis I.—just as we apply the terms Tudor and Elizabethan to its equivalents in England. The remains of this style in Paris are, however, to be found principally in secular buildings, such as the older portions of the Louvre, the Hôtel de Ville, the Palais de Justice, some of the colleges of the University, and numerous private mansions. Of ecclesiastical edifices we have only three that are of considerable note. The first of these is

. This, though a fantastic building, is one of great interest and architectural effect. It occupied all the sixteenth century in building, and therefore touches in some details on the Flamboyant style, while in others it passes into Franco-Italian. It consists of a central and side aisles with lateral chapels, pseudo-transepts, and a polygonal apse. A lofty and curiously elongated tower stands