Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/73

 CHANGED INTO MANSIONS 53 INTRODUCTION castles. Francis i. set the example. He demolished the great donjon of the Louvre erected by Philip Augustus, and built a Renaissance courtyard instead. He also built the celebrated Chateau de Chambord, which is a perfect parody of a French castle. It has all the parts complete, a great donjon situated next the wall, towers at the angles, turnpike stairs, secret passages, moat, etc. But these features resemble those of the feudal fortress only in name, without any of the character- istics which rendered the latter real and noble. Efforts were now made to alter the old feudal towers, so as to bring them into harmony with the more peaceful ideas of the times, by enlarg- ing the windows, in order to render the apartments more cheerful and habitable. But the great towers of the old castles were so solidly built that enlarged openings could with difficulty be cut through the masonry. This led to an opening in the old walls being slapped from top to bottom, as the easiest mode of getting enlarged window spaces. A series of windows was then introduced, filling up the gap with new work from top to bottom, and this feature afterwards became a motive for the decoration of other similar new buildings. The old machicolations were also imitated in the new cornices, and throughout the ornament there is a curious mixture of the old castellated details with the new Italian decorations. Very many fine specimens of the castles of this period (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) exist in almost every part of France, and are easily distinguished by their numerous turrets and pointed roofs, and by the late Gothic details with which they are ornamented. The banks of the Loire are especially rich in fine examples of fifteenth-century work, such as the Castles of Blois, Amboise, etc. We give two views of Montsabert (Figs. 40 and 41), one of the castles from the Loire country, which shows nearly all the leading features above referred to. It seems to occupy the site of an older castle, the enceinte walls, ditch, etc., of which have now almost completely dis- appeared. Some of the towers are probably ancient, but they have now assumed a more modern guise, being pierced with large windows, and having lost their frowning parapets. The machicolations, which are ornamented, and may have been at one time for use, now merely carry a false parapet, on which rests the roof, with dormer windows running up into it, thus showing that the space within formerly used for the service of the defence is now thrown into bedrooms. The front courtyard has no enclosing wall, and the door, no longer jealously guarded with port- cullis and drawbridge, is accessible to every visitor. The details are generally late Gothic of the fifteenth century, but these have been superseded in the dormers and doorway with later Renaissance work. We have selected Montsabert for illustration because we have special reasons for referring to it hereafter in connection with Scotch Architecture. We likewise give, for a similar reason, a view of the