The two first periods are well represented in the château of Blois, where, in the east wing built by Louis XII., square-headed windows alternate with three central arches, the buttresses are set anglewise running into the cornice, and pillars and angle shafts are carved with chevrons, spiral flirtings, or cinque-cento arabesque; the cornices of the towers containing staircases project and are carried on arched niches supported on corbels (the new interpretation of the machicolations of the feudal castle); above the cornice is a balustrade with pierced flamboyant tracery, and the dormer windows retain their Gothic detail. In the north wing of Francis I. all these Gothic ornamental details disappear, and are replaced by the Renaissance. Panels and pilasters take the place of the buttresses—the panels sometimes enriched with cinque-cento arabesque; shells are carved in the arched niches of the cornice, and modillions and dentil courses are introduced; the balustrade is pierced with flowing Renaissance foliage interspersed with the salamanders and coronets; the same high roofs are maintained, but the dormer windows and chimneys, still Gothic in design, are entirely clothed with Renaissance detail.The finest feature of the façade of this north wing, facing the court, is the magnificent polygonal staircase tower in its centre (Plate VIII., fig. 84); four great piers rise from ground to cornice, between which the rising balustrade is fitted; the whole feature Gothic in design, but Renaissance in all its details. The splendid carving of the panels of the piers and the niches with their canopies was probably done by Italian artists. The figures in these niches are said to be by Jean Goujon. The great dormers and chimneys have not the refinement in their design which characterizes the lower portion, and may be of later date. The north front of the château is raised on the foundation walls of the old castle, part of which is encased in it, and this may account for the slight irregularities in the widths of the bays. The design differs from that of the south front, the windows all being recessed behind three-centre arched openings; the open loggia at the top, which is admirable in effect, is a subsequent alteration.Before passing to the Louvre and Tuileries, representing the third period, we must refer to some other important early châteaux and buildings. Some of these, such as the châteaux of Madrid and Gaillon, are known chiefly from du Cerceau’s work, as they were destroyed at the Revolution. Of the latter building, the entrance gateway is stillin situ; there are some portions in the court of the École des Beaux-Arts at Paris, consisting of a second entrance gateway, a portico and some large panels. The gateway shows a singular mixture of Gothic and Renaissance; the centre portion, with the gateway and great niche over, is debased classic, the side portions retaining the buttresses, mouldings, panels and other features belonging to the latest phase of Flamboyant Gothic.Of buildings still existing, the hôtel de ville of Orleans (1497) is a good example of early transition work, in which Gothic and Renaissance work is intermingled, and it is interesting to compare it with the hôtel de ville at Beaugency, built by the same architect, Viart, some twenty-five years later. There is the same principle in design, much improved in the later example, but all the Gothic details have disappeared.In the château of Chenonceaux (1515-1524) we find a compromise between the two styles; Gothic corbels, piers and three-centre arches are employed, varied with debased classic mouldings, shells and capitals; here, as at Azay-le-Rideau (1520), the château wasnot transformed like those at Langeais and Rochefoucauld, where what was externally a 14th-century castle developed internally into a 16th-century mansion; both Chenonceaux and Azay-le-Rideau were built as residences, and yet in both are displayed those features which belong to the fortified castle; at the angles of the main structure in both cases are circular towers, in the latter case crowned with machicolations and hourds, which, however, are purely decorative, pierced with windows, and broken at intervals with dormer windows, a feature which gives it the aspect of an attic storey. The lofty roofs and conical terminations to these angle towers, with dormer and chimney, give the same picturesque aspect to the grouping as that which was afforded in the fortified castle, where, however, they originated in the necessity for defence. The entrance portals of both chateaux are beautiful features, absolutely Gothic in design, and only transformed by cinque-cento detail.In the château of Chambord (1526) we find the same defensive features introduced, in the shape of great circular towers at the angles, but here with more reason, as the chateau was intended more for display than habitation. The chateau itself, about 200 ft. square, has circular towers at the angles, and in the centre a spiral staircase with double flight, leading to great halls on each side, which give access to the comparatively small rooms in the angles of the square and the towers beyond, and to the roof, which would seem to have been the chief attraction, as there is a fine view therefrom; and the elaborate octagonal lantern over the staircase, the dormer windows, chimneys and lanterns on the conical roofs of the towers, are all elaborately carved. There are three storeys to the building, subdivided horizontally by string courses, and terminated with a fine cornice carrying a balustrade, and vertically by a series of pilasters of the Corinthian order. The varied outline of this building, with the alternation of blank panels and windows between the pilasters, relieves what might otherwise have been its monotony. The château is situated on the east side of a great court measuring about 500 ft. by 370 ft., with a moat all round. To the right and left of the central block the walls are carved up three storeys, and an attic, with open arcades inside, leading to the angle towers of the enclosure. At a later period Louis XIV. continued the unfinished structure by a one-storey building round. The carving of the capitals, corbels and other decorative work was all done by Italian artists, under the direction of some architect whose name is not known.One of the gems of Francis I.’s work is the small hunting lodge originally built at Moret near Fontainebleau, to which at one time the king thought of adding, before he began his great palace there. This was taken down in 1826, and re-erected in the Cours-la-Reine at Paris. Though small, it is the purest example of the first Renaissance. Other examples are the hôtel de ville of Paray-le-Monial (1526); the Hôtel d’Anjou at Angers (1530), built by Pierre de Pincé; the Hôtel Bernuy at Toulouse (1530); the Hôtel d’Ecoville at Caen (1532); the Manoir of Francis I. at Orleans; the Hotel Bourgthéroulde at Rouen (1520-1532) and other buildings opposite Rouen cathedral, and what remains of the château known as the Manoir d’Ango (1525) at Varengeville, near Dieppe. The château of St Germain-en-Laye (1539-1544), the upper half of which is built in brick, belongs also to the early period, as also the hôtel de ville at Paris, built in 1533 by Domenico da Cortona, an Italian, who after spending some thirty years in France would seem to have caught the spirit of the French Renaissance so well as to be able to produce one of the most remarkable examples of the Francis I. style. In the existing building the original design has been copied from the building burnt down by the Communists in 1871.From this we pass to the palace at Fontainebleau, begun by Francis I. in 1526, to which there have been so many subsequent additions and alterations that it is difficult to differentiate between them. The building owes its picturesque effect more to its irregular plan (as portions of an earlier structure were enclosed in it) than to any brilliant conceptions on the part of its architect. There is an endless variety of charming detail in the capitals, corbels and other decorative features, but the employment of pilaster strips purely as decorative features (without any such structural property as that in the Porte Dorée at the Cour Ovale) suggests that the Italian architect Serlio, to whom sometimes the work is ascribed, certainly had nothing to do with it.On the other hand, there is every reason to believe that the designs made by Pierre Lescot for the Louvre, begun in 1546, were, as regards their style, largely based on the principles set forth in Serlio’s work on architecture, published in 1540. The south-west angle of the court of the Louvre is the earliest example of the third period of the Renaissance, in which the orders are employed in correct proportions with columns or pedestals carrying entablatures with mouldings based on classic precedent. The portion built from Lescot’s designs (Plate VIII., fig. 83) consists of the nine bays on the east and north sides, the latter not being completed till 1574, as the workmen would seem to have been transferred to the building of the Tuileries, begun in 1564.The Corinthian order is employed for the ground and first storeys and an attic storey above, in which the pilaster capitals run into the bedmold of the upper cornice. Of the nine bays, the central and side bays are twice the width of the others, and project slightly with the cornices breaking round them; this feature, and the crowning of the western bays with a segmental pediment, give a variety to the design, which otherwise might have become monotonous by its repetition of similar features. The balustrade also is replaced by thechêneau, a cresting in stone, which hereafter is found in nearly all French buildings. The sculptor, Jean Goujon, would seem to have worked in complete harmony with the architect, thus producing what will always be considered as one of thechef-d’œuvresof French architecture.The architect employed by Catherine de’ Medici for the Tuileries was Philibert de l’Orme, who combined the taste of the architect with the scientific knowledge of the engineer. Only a portion of his design was carried out, and of that much disappeared in the 17th century, when his dormer windows were taken down and replaced by a second storey and an attic. Bullant and du Cerceau also added buildings on each side.The Tuileries were built about 500 yds. from the Louvre, and Catherine de’ Medici conceived the idea of connecting the two. The work, which began with the “Petite Galerie,” with the south wing, as far as the Pavilion Lesdiguieres, was started in 1566, being of one storey only. The mezzanine and upper storey were not completed till the beginning of the 17th century. In 1603 the remainder of the south front and the Pavillon-de-Flore were completed by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau.Of Philibert de l’Orme’s work at Anet (1549), only the entrance gateway, the left-hand side of court, and the chapel remain, sufficient, however, to show that he had already at that early date mastered the principles of the Italian Revivalists. The chapel is in its way a remarkable design, but the hemispherical dome, pierced by elliptical winding arches inside, is not happy in its effect. The frontispiece which he created opposite the entrance, now in the court of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, shows great refinement in its details, but proportionally errs in many points. De l’Orme built also the bridge and gallery on the river Cher, forming an addition to the château of Chenonceaux.Amongst other work of this period are the additions made by Bullant to the château de Chantilly, where he traversed the principles of classic design by running Corinthian pilasters through two storeys and cutting through the cornice of his dormer windows. At Écouen (1550) he destroyed the scale of the earlier buildings of 1532 by raising in front of the left wing of the court four lofty Corinthian columns with entablature complete, which he copied from the temple of Castor in Rome.Among the early Renaissance work are the chateau of Ancy le Franc (Yonne), Italian in character, which may be by Serlio (1546); the Hôtel d’Assézat at Toulouse (1555), in which there is a strong resemblance to the court of the Louvre; the houses at Orleans, known as those of Agnes Sorel, Jeanne d’Arc and Diane de Poitiers (1552); and there is other work at Caen, Rouen, Toulouse, Dijon, Chinon, Périgueux, Cahors, Rodez, Beauvais and Amiens, dating up to the close of the 16th century. In this list might also be included the fine town hall of La Rochelle, the Hôtel Lamoignon in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris (1580), and the Hôtel de Vogüé at Dijon, which retained the Renaissance character, though built in the first year of the 17th century.In the reigns of Henry IV. and Louis XIII. the first work of importance in Paris is that of the Place Royale, now the Place des Vosges; in this brick was largely employed, and the conjunction of brick and stone gave a decorative effect which dispensed with the necessity of employing the Classic orders. At Fontainebleau, where Henry IV. made large additions, the same mixture of brick and stone is found in the Galerie des Cerfs, and in the great service court (cour des cuisines). The example set was followed largely through the country, and numerous mansions and private houses in brick and stone still exist. Henry IV.’s most important work at Fontainebleau is the Porte Dauphine, of which the lower part, with rusticated columns and courses of masonry, does not quite accord in scale or character with the superstructure, in which is put some of the best work of the century.Except perhaps for the monotony of the rusticated masonry which is spread all over the building, the palace of the Luxembourg, by Salomon de Brosse (1615), is an important work, in which he was probably instructed by Marie de’ Medici to reproduce the general effect of the Pitti palace at Florence. The three storeys of the main block are well proportioned, but the absence of a boldly projecting cornice, such as is found in the Riccardi and Strozzi palaces, is a defect; the same architect reconstructed the great hall of the palace of justice at Paris, burnt in 1871 but now rebuilt to the same design.In 1629 the building subsequently known as the Palais Royal was begun from the designs of Lemercier; but it has been so materially altered since that scarcely anything remains of his design, though the works carried out from his designs at the Louvre were of the greatest possible importance. The court of the latter, as begun by Pierre Lescot, was of small dimensions, corresponding with that of the palace of Philip Augustus, but Lemercier proposed to quadruple its dimensions. It is not certain whether he built the lower portion of the Pavilion d’Horloge, but he designed the upper part, with the caryatid figures sculptured by Jacques Sarrazin. On the north side of this pavilion he built a wing similar in length and design to that of Pierre Lescot, and continued the wing along the north side to the centre pavilion; this was continued by Levau, the architect of Louis XIV., round the other sides of the court. His design for theeast front, however, did not recommend itself to the king or to his minister Colbert, and a competition was held, the first place being given to the design by a physician, Dr Perrault. Prior to its being begun, however, Bernini was sent for, and he submitted other designs, fortunately not carried out, as they would have destroyed the court of the Louvre. In 1665 the works were begun on the design of Perrault, a grandiose frontispiece which appealed to Louis XIV., but in which no cognizance had been taken of the various rooms against which it was built; consequently no windows could be opened, and it forms now a useless peristyle. Moreover it was so much wider than the original building that on the north side it became necessary to add a new front. Fortunately the example set by Perrault of coupling columns together has rarely been followed since in France, so that in the Garde-Meuble on the south side of the Place de la Concorde, by Gabriel, we return again to the original classic peristyle. The works undertaken at the Louvre progressed but slowly, in consequence of the greater interest taken by Louis XIV. in the palace he was building at Versailles, an extension of the hunting-box built by his father Louis XIII., which he insisted should be maintained and incorporated as the central feature in the new building. But as it was comparatively small in dimensions, of simple design, and in brick and stone, it was quite unfit to become the central feature of the main front of the largest palace in Europe. To make it worse, the new wings built on either side were lofty and of more importance architecturally, and as they projected some 300 ft. in advance of the earlier building, they reduced it to still greater insignificance. But even then the architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart, might have redeemed his reputation by buildings of greater interest than those which now exist. The back elevation of the central block is 330 ft. wide, the returns 280 ft., and the length of the wings on each side 500 ft.; in other words he had nearly 1900 ft. run of façade, and it is simply a repetition of the same bays from one end to the other, in three storeys all of the same height, the lower one with semicircular arched openings, the first floor decorated with pilasters on columns of the Ionic order, and an attic storey above with balustrade. The slight projection given to the central and side bays of each block, just sufficient to allow of columns in the first floor as decorative features instead of pilasters, is of no value in fronts of such great dimensions. The great galleries inside have the same monotonous design as in the façades, relieved only by the rich decoration in the first case and the splendid masonry in the latter. There is one saving clause in the main front, the chapel by R. de Cotte on the right-hand side being externally and internally a fine structure, and the best ecclesiastical example of the period.Among other buildings of the 17th century are those begun by Cardinal Mazarin in the rue de Richelieu, which now constitute the National library; the Hôtel de Toulouse (1626), now the Bank of France; the Hôtel de Sully (1630), by du Cerceau; the Hôtel de Beauvais (1654), by le Pautre; the Hôtel Lambert (also by le Pautre), in the Île St Louis; the château at Maisons, near St Germain-en-Laye, by François Mansart (1656); the Institute of France (1662), by Levau; two triumphal arches, of St Denis (1672), by Blondel, and St Martin (1674) by Bullet; the Hôtel des Invalides (1670), by Bruant; the Place des Victoires and the Place Vendôme (1695-1699), by Jules Hardouin Mansart, in which a series of large houses are grouped together in one design; the Trianon at Versailles (1676), and the château of Marly (1682), both by J.H. Mansart; and important monumental buildings in the principal provincial cities, such as Lyons, Bordeaux, Nantes and Tours.In the 18th century those which are worthy of note are the Hôtel Soubise (1706), now the “Archives Nationales”; the fountain in the rue de Crenelle, a fine composition; the École Militaire (1752), by Gabriel; the Êcole de Médecine (1769), by Gondouin; the mint (1772), by Antoine; the Place de la Concorde, with the Garde-Meuble, by Gabriel (1765); the Hôtel de Salm, now the Legion of Honour; the Place Stanislas at Nancy (1738-1766), in which are grouped the town hall, archbishop’s palace, theatre and other public buildings, with triumphal arch and avenues leading to the palace of the duke Stanislaus (with magnificent wrought-iron enclosures and gates by Jean Lamour, the greatest craftsman of the century); the theatre at Bordeaux by Louis; and the Odéon, Paris (1789).The ecclesiastical architecture of the French Renaissance comes at the end of our description owing to the far greater importance of the palaces, mansions and public monuments, and also because in the beginning of the 16th century France found herself in possession of a much larger number of cathedrals and large churches than she could maintain. Some of these are still unfinished, so that her first efforts would seem to have been directed to the completion of those already begun rather than to the erection of new ones, St Eustache in Paris being nearly the only exception of importance prior to the 17th century.We have from time to time dwelt upon the important consideration which must not be lost sight of, viz. that nearly all the buildings erected in France up to the accession of Henry IV. were conceived and carried out in the spirit of the Flamboyant Gothic style, cinque-cento details mixed up with Gothic at first, then superseding them, and even when the influence of the Italian revivalists began to exert itself, still retaining much of her traditional methods of design. If this was the case in civil architecture, it was naturally more pronounced in the additions made to ecclesiastical structures, and the gradual development of the style may be more easily followed in the latter. These are, however, so numerous, and they are so universally spread throughout France, that only a few of the most interesting examples can be here given; for instance, the porch of St Michel at Dijon; the upper part of the western towers of the cathedrals of Orleans and Tours; the three eastern chapels of St Jacques, Dieppe, built at the cost of Jean Ango, a celebrated merchant-prince of Dieppe, to whose chateau at Varengeville we have already referred; the eastern chapels of St Peter’s, Caen, from the designs of Hector Sohier (1521), both internally and externally of great interest; the west end of the church at Vétheuil (Seine-et-Oise); the magnificent work of the west front and tower of the church at Gisors; the upper part of the west front of the cathedral at Angers; the portals of the church at Auxonne (Fichot); the choir at Tillières; the lantern of the church of St Peter, Coutances (1541); the porch of the Dalbade at Toulouse; and the north front of the church of Ste Clotilde at Les Andelys, which dates from the age of Henry II.The church of St Eustache at Paris, begun in 1533, but not completed till the end of the century, is a large cruciform Gothic structure with lofty double aisles on each side and carried round the choir, and rectangular chapels round the whole building, excepting the west end. Structurally also it possesses all the most characteristic features of the Gothic church, with nave arcades carried on compound piers, triforium and clerestory, vaulted throughout, and flying buttresses outside. Close examination shows that all the details are of the early cinque-cento work, panelled pilasters of varying proportions, but with Renaissance capitals, corbels, niches and canopies all grouped together in a Gothic manner, and quite opposed to the principles of the Italian revivalists; what is more remarkable is that though long before its completion these principles had already borne fruit in the Louvre and Tuileries, the original conception was adhered to, and the portals of the north and south transepts (the last features added, with the exception of the ugly west front of the 18th century) still retain the character of the early French Renaissance.In St Étienne-du-Mont, sometimes claimed as a second example, the church is Flamboyant Gothic throughout, the chief additions being the magnificent rood-screen of 1600, and the west portal, in which the banded columns of the Bourbon period form the chief features.Coming to churches of later date, Salomon de Brosse (c. 1565-1627), the architect of the Luxembourg palace, added in 1616 a fresh front to the church of St Gervais, finely proportioned and of pure Italian design, which contrasts favourably with the Jesuits’ church of St Paul and St Louis (1627-1641), overladen with rococo ornament; then came the churches of the Sorbonne (1629), by Jacques Lemercier, and of the Val-de-Grace (1645), by François Mansart, the dome of the latter, though small, being a fine design; the church of the Invalides, also by Mansart, the dome of which is the most graceful in France; the cathedral of Nancy (1703-1742), by Jules Hardouin Mansart and Germain Boffrand (1667-1754), the principal front of which is flanked by two towers with octagonal lanterns which group so well with the central portion (of the usual design, in two stages with pilasters and coupled columns, carrying a third stage with circular pediment) that it is unfortunate it should be almost the only example of its kind; and lastly the church of Ste Geneviève, better known as the Panthéon (1755), by Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713-1780), the dome of which is based largely on that of St Peter’s in Rome. The main building with its great portico is a simple and fine piece of design, and unlike St Peter’s the dome is well seen from every point of view; the decoration of its walls with paintings by Puvis de Chavannes and other French artists has now rendered the interior one of the most interesting in France.
The two first periods are well represented in the château of Blois, where, in the east wing built by Louis XII., square-headed windows alternate with three central arches, the buttresses are set anglewise running into the cornice, and pillars and angle shafts are carved with chevrons, spiral flirtings, or cinque-cento arabesque; the cornices of the towers containing staircases project and are carried on arched niches supported on corbels (the new interpretation of the machicolations of the feudal castle); above the cornice is a balustrade with pierced flamboyant tracery, and the dormer windows retain their Gothic detail. In the north wing of Francis I. all these Gothic ornamental details disappear, and are replaced by the Renaissance. Panels and pilasters take the place of the buttresses—the panels sometimes enriched with cinque-cento arabesque; shells are carved in the arched niches of the cornice, and modillions and dentil courses are introduced; the balustrade is pierced with flowing Renaissance foliage interspersed with the salamanders and coronets; the same high roofs are maintained, but the dormer windows and chimneys, still Gothic in design, are entirely clothed with Renaissance detail.
The finest feature of the façade of this north wing, facing the court, is the magnificent polygonal staircase tower in its centre (Plate VIII., fig. 84); four great piers rise from ground to cornice, between which the rising balustrade is fitted; the whole feature Gothic in design, but Renaissance in all its details. The splendid carving of the panels of the piers and the niches with their canopies was probably done by Italian artists. The figures in these niches are said to be by Jean Goujon. The great dormers and chimneys have not the refinement in their design which characterizes the lower portion, and may be of later date. The north front of the château is raised on the foundation walls of the old castle, part of which is encased in it, and this may account for the slight irregularities in the widths of the bays. The design differs from that of the south front, the windows all being recessed behind three-centre arched openings; the open loggia at the top, which is admirable in effect, is a subsequent alteration.
Before passing to the Louvre and Tuileries, representing the third period, we must refer to some other important early châteaux and buildings. Some of these, such as the châteaux of Madrid and Gaillon, are known chiefly from du Cerceau’s work, as they were destroyed at the Revolution. Of the latter building, the entrance gateway is stillin situ; there are some portions in the court of the École des Beaux-Arts at Paris, consisting of a second entrance gateway, a portico and some large panels. The gateway shows a singular mixture of Gothic and Renaissance; the centre portion, with the gateway and great niche over, is debased classic, the side portions retaining the buttresses, mouldings, panels and other features belonging to the latest phase of Flamboyant Gothic.
Of buildings still existing, the hôtel de ville of Orleans (1497) is a good example of early transition work, in which Gothic and Renaissance work is intermingled, and it is interesting to compare it with the hôtel de ville at Beaugency, built by the same architect, Viart, some twenty-five years later. There is the same principle in design, much improved in the later example, but all the Gothic details have disappeared.
In the château of Chenonceaux (1515-1524) we find a compromise between the two styles; Gothic corbels, piers and three-centre arches are employed, varied with debased classic mouldings, shells and capitals; here, as at Azay-le-Rideau (1520), the château wasnot transformed like those at Langeais and Rochefoucauld, where what was externally a 14th-century castle developed internally into a 16th-century mansion; both Chenonceaux and Azay-le-Rideau were built as residences, and yet in both are displayed those features which belong to the fortified castle; at the angles of the main structure in both cases are circular towers, in the latter case crowned with machicolations and hourds, which, however, are purely decorative, pierced with windows, and broken at intervals with dormer windows, a feature which gives it the aspect of an attic storey. The lofty roofs and conical terminations to these angle towers, with dormer and chimney, give the same picturesque aspect to the grouping as that which was afforded in the fortified castle, where, however, they originated in the necessity for defence. The entrance portals of both chateaux are beautiful features, absolutely Gothic in design, and only transformed by cinque-cento detail.
In the château of Chambord (1526) we find the same defensive features introduced, in the shape of great circular towers at the angles, but here with more reason, as the chateau was intended more for display than habitation. The chateau itself, about 200 ft. square, has circular towers at the angles, and in the centre a spiral staircase with double flight, leading to great halls on each side, which give access to the comparatively small rooms in the angles of the square and the towers beyond, and to the roof, which would seem to have been the chief attraction, as there is a fine view therefrom; and the elaborate octagonal lantern over the staircase, the dormer windows, chimneys and lanterns on the conical roofs of the towers, are all elaborately carved. There are three storeys to the building, subdivided horizontally by string courses, and terminated with a fine cornice carrying a balustrade, and vertically by a series of pilasters of the Corinthian order. The varied outline of this building, with the alternation of blank panels and windows between the pilasters, relieves what might otherwise have been its monotony. The château is situated on the east side of a great court measuring about 500 ft. by 370 ft., with a moat all round. To the right and left of the central block the walls are carved up three storeys, and an attic, with open arcades inside, leading to the angle towers of the enclosure. At a later period Louis XIV. continued the unfinished structure by a one-storey building round. The carving of the capitals, corbels and other decorative work was all done by Italian artists, under the direction of some architect whose name is not known.
One of the gems of Francis I.’s work is the small hunting lodge originally built at Moret near Fontainebleau, to which at one time the king thought of adding, before he began his great palace there. This was taken down in 1826, and re-erected in the Cours-la-Reine at Paris. Though small, it is the purest example of the first Renaissance. Other examples are the hôtel de ville of Paray-le-Monial (1526); the Hôtel d’Anjou at Angers (1530), built by Pierre de Pincé; the Hôtel Bernuy at Toulouse (1530); the Hôtel d’Ecoville at Caen (1532); the Manoir of Francis I. at Orleans; the Hotel Bourgthéroulde at Rouen (1520-1532) and other buildings opposite Rouen cathedral, and what remains of the château known as the Manoir d’Ango (1525) at Varengeville, near Dieppe. The château of St Germain-en-Laye (1539-1544), the upper half of which is built in brick, belongs also to the early period, as also the hôtel de ville at Paris, built in 1533 by Domenico da Cortona, an Italian, who after spending some thirty years in France would seem to have caught the spirit of the French Renaissance so well as to be able to produce one of the most remarkable examples of the Francis I. style. In the existing building the original design has been copied from the building burnt down by the Communists in 1871.
From this we pass to the palace at Fontainebleau, begun by Francis I. in 1526, to which there have been so many subsequent additions and alterations that it is difficult to differentiate between them. The building owes its picturesque effect more to its irregular plan (as portions of an earlier structure were enclosed in it) than to any brilliant conceptions on the part of its architect. There is an endless variety of charming detail in the capitals, corbels and other decorative features, but the employment of pilaster strips purely as decorative features (without any such structural property as that in the Porte Dorée at the Cour Ovale) suggests that the Italian architect Serlio, to whom sometimes the work is ascribed, certainly had nothing to do with it.
On the other hand, there is every reason to believe that the designs made by Pierre Lescot for the Louvre, begun in 1546, were, as regards their style, largely based on the principles set forth in Serlio’s work on architecture, published in 1540. The south-west angle of the court of the Louvre is the earliest example of the third period of the Renaissance, in which the orders are employed in correct proportions with columns or pedestals carrying entablatures with mouldings based on classic precedent. The portion built from Lescot’s designs (Plate VIII., fig. 83) consists of the nine bays on the east and north sides, the latter not being completed till 1574, as the workmen would seem to have been transferred to the building of the Tuileries, begun in 1564.
The Corinthian order is employed for the ground and first storeys and an attic storey above, in which the pilaster capitals run into the bedmold of the upper cornice. Of the nine bays, the central and side bays are twice the width of the others, and project slightly with the cornices breaking round them; this feature, and the crowning of the western bays with a segmental pediment, give a variety to the design, which otherwise might have become monotonous by its repetition of similar features. The balustrade also is replaced by thechêneau, a cresting in stone, which hereafter is found in nearly all French buildings. The sculptor, Jean Goujon, would seem to have worked in complete harmony with the architect, thus producing what will always be considered as one of thechef-d’œuvresof French architecture.
The architect employed by Catherine de’ Medici for the Tuileries was Philibert de l’Orme, who combined the taste of the architect with the scientific knowledge of the engineer. Only a portion of his design was carried out, and of that much disappeared in the 17th century, when his dormer windows were taken down and replaced by a second storey and an attic. Bullant and du Cerceau also added buildings on each side.
The Tuileries were built about 500 yds. from the Louvre, and Catherine de’ Medici conceived the idea of connecting the two. The work, which began with the “Petite Galerie,” with the south wing, as far as the Pavilion Lesdiguieres, was started in 1566, being of one storey only. The mezzanine and upper storey were not completed till the beginning of the 17th century. In 1603 the remainder of the south front and the Pavillon-de-Flore were completed by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau.
Of Philibert de l’Orme’s work at Anet (1549), only the entrance gateway, the left-hand side of court, and the chapel remain, sufficient, however, to show that he had already at that early date mastered the principles of the Italian Revivalists. The chapel is in its way a remarkable design, but the hemispherical dome, pierced by elliptical winding arches inside, is not happy in its effect. The frontispiece which he created opposite the entrance, now in the court of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, shows great refinement in its details, but proportionally errs in many points. De l’Orme built also the bridge and gallery on the river Cher, forming an addition to the château of Chenonceaux.
Amongst other work of this period are the additions made by Bullant to the château de Chantilly, where he traversed the principles of classic design by running Corinthian pilasters through two storeys and cutting through the cornice of his dormer windows. At Écouen (1550) he destroyed the scale of the earlier buildings of 1532 by raising in front of the left wing of the court four lofty Corinthian columns with entablature complete, which he copied from the temple of Castor in Rome.
Among the early Renaissance work are the chateau of Ancy le Franc (Yonne), Italian in character, which may be by Serlio (1546); the Hôtel d’Assézat at Toulouse (1555), in which there is a strong resemblance to the court of the Louvre; the houses at Orleans, known as those of Agnes Sorel, Jeanne d’Arc and Diane de Poitiers (1552); and there is other work at Caen, Rouen, Toulouse, Dijon, Chinon, Périgueux, Cahors, Rodez, Beauvais and Amiens, dating up to the close of the 16th century. In this list might also be included the fine town hall of La Rochelle, the Hôtel Lamoignon in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris (1580), and the Hôtel de Vogüé at Dijon, which retained the Renaissance character, though built in the first year of the 17th century.
In the reigns of Henry IV. and Louis XIII. the first work of importance in Paris is that of the Place Royale, now the Place des Vosges; in this brick was largely employed, and the conjunction of brick and stone gave a decorative effect which dispensed with the necessity of employing the Classic orders. At Fontainebleau, where Henry IV. made large additions, the same mixture of brick and stone is found in the Galerie des Cerfs, and in the great service court (cour des cuisines). The example set was followed largely through the country, and numerous mansions and private houses in brick and stone still exist. Henry IV.’s most important work at Fontainebleau is the Porte Dauphine, of which the lower part, with rusticated columns and courses of masonry, does not quite accord in scale or character with the superstructure, in which is put some of the best work of the century.
Except perhaps for the monotony of the rusticated masonry which is spread all over the building, the palace of the Luxembourg, by Salomon de Brosse (1615), is an important work, in which he was probably instructed by Marie de’ Medici to reproduce the general effect of the Pitti palace at Florence. The three storeys of the main block are well proportioned, but the absence of a boldly projecting cornice, such as is found in the Riccardi and Strozzi palaces, is a defect; the same architect reconstructed the great hall of the palace of justice at Paris, burnt in 1871 but now rebuilt to the same design.
In 1629 the building subsequently known as the Palais Royal was begun from the designs of Lemercier; but it has been so materially altered since that scarcely anything remains of his design, though the works carried out from his designs at the Louvre were of the greatest possible importance. The court of the latter, as begun by Pierre Lescot, was of small dimensions, corresponding with that of the palace of Philip Augustus, but Lemercier proposed to quadruple its dimensions. It is not certain whether he built the lower portion of the Pavilion d’Horloge, but he designed the upper part, with the caryatid figures sculptured by Jacques Sarrazin. On the north side of this pavilion he built a wing similar in length and design to that of Pierre Lescot, and continued the wing along the north side to the centre pavilion; this was continued by Levau, the architect of Louis XIV., round the other sides of the court. His design for theeast front, however, did not recommend itself to the king or to his minister Colbert, and a competition was held, the first place being given to the design by a physician, Dr Perrault. Prior to its being begun, however, Bernini was sent for, and he submitted other designs, fortunately not carried out, as they would have destroyed the court of the Louvre. In 1665 the works were begun on the design of Perrault, a grandiose frontispiece which appealed to Louis XIV., but in which no cognizance had been taken of the various rooms against which it was built; consequently no windows could be opened, and it forms now a useless peristyle. Moreover it was so much wider than the original building that on the north side it became necessary to add a new front. Fortunately the example set by Perrault of coupling columns together has rarely been followed since in France, so that in the Garde-Meuble on the south side of the Place de la Concorde, by Gabriel, we return again to the original classic peristyle. The works undertaken at the Louvre progressed but slowly, in consequence of the greater interest taken by Louis XIV. in the palace he was building at Versailles, an extension of the hunting-box built by his father Louis XIII., which he insisted should be maintained and incorporated as the central feature in the new building. But as it was comparatively small in dimensions, of simple design, and in brick and stone, it was quite unfit to become the central feature of the main front of the largest palace in Europe. To make it worse, the new wings built on either side were lofty and of more importance architecturally, and as they projected some 300 ft. in advance of the earlier building, they reduced it to still greater insignificance. But even then the architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart, might have redeemed his reputation by buildings of greater interest than those which now exist. The back elevation of the central block is 330 ft. wide, the returns 280 ft., and the length of the wings on each side 500 ft.; in other words he had nearly 1900 ft. run of façade, and it is simply a repetition of the same bays from one end to the other, in three storeys all of the same height, the lower one with semicircular arched openings, the first floor decorated with pilasters on columns of the Ionic order, and an attic storey above with balustrade. The slight projection given to the central and side bays of each block, just sufficient to allow of columns in the first floor as decorative features instead of pilasters, is of no value in fronts of such great dimensions. The great galleries inside have the same monotonous design as in the façades, relieved only by the rich decoration in the first case and the splendid masonry in the latter. There is one saving clause in the main front, the chapel by R. de Cotte on the right-hand side being externally and internally a fine structure, and the best ecclesiastical example of the period.
Among other buildings of the 17th century are those begun by Cardinal Mazarin in the rue de Richelieu, which now constitute the National library; the Hôtel de Toulouse (1626), now the Bank of France; the Hôtel de Sully (1630), by du Cerceau; the Hôtel de Beauvais (1654), by le Pautre; the Hôtel Lambert (also by le Pautre), in the Île St Louis; the château at Maisons, near St Germain-en-Laye, by François Mansart (1656); the Institute of France (1662), by Levau; two triumphal arches, of St Denis (1672), by Blondel, and St Martin (1674) by Bullet; the Hôtel des Invalides (1670), by Bruant; the Place des Victoires and the Place Vendôme (1695-1699), by Jules Hardouin Mansart, in which a series of large houses are grouped together in one design; the Trianon at Versailles (1676), and the château of Marly (1682), both by J.H. Mansart; and important monumental buildings in the principal provincial cities, such as Lyons, Bordeaux, Nantes and Tours.
In the 18th century those which are worthy of note are the Hôtel Soubise (1706), now the “Archives Nationales”; the fountain in the rue de Crenelle, a fine composition; the École Militaire (1752), by Gabriel; the Êcole de Médecine (1769), by Gondouin; the mint (1772), by Antoine; the Place de la Concorde, with the Garde-Meuble, by Gabriel (1765); the Hôtel de Salm, now the Legion of Honour; the Place Stanislas at Nancy (1738-1766), in which are grouped the town hall, archbishop’s palace, theatre and other public buildings, with triumphal arch and avenues leading to the palace of the duke Stanislaus (with magnificent wrought-iron enclosures and gates by Jean Lamour, the greatest craftsman of the century); the theatre at Bordeaux by Louis; and the Odéon, Paris (1789).
The ecclesiastical architecture of the French Renaissance comes at the end of our description owing to the far greater importance of the palaces, mansions and public monuments, and also because in the beginning of the 16th century France found herself in possession of a much larger number of cathedrals and large churches than she could maintain. Some of these are still unfinished, so that her first efforts would seem to have been directed to the completion of those already begun rather than to the erection of new ones, St Eustache in Paris being nearly the only exception of importance prior to the 17th century.
We have from time to time dwelt upon the important consideration which must not be lost sight of, viz. that nearly all the buildings erected in France up to the accession of Henry IV. were conceived and carried out in the spirit of the Flamboyant Gothic style, cinque-cento details mixed up with Gothic at first, then superseding them, and even when the influence of the Italian revivalists began to exert itself, still retaining much of her traditional methods of design. If this was the case in civil architecture, it was naturally more pronounced in the additions made to ecclesiastical structures, and the gradual development of the style may be more easily followed in the latter. These are, however, so numerous, and they are so universally spread throughout France, that only a few of the most interesting examples can be here given; for instance, the porch of St Michel at Dijon; the upper part of the western towers of the cathedrals of Orleans and Tours; the three eastern chapels of St Jacques, Dieppe, built at the cost of Jean Ango, a celebrated merchant-prince of Dieppe, to whose chateau at Varengeville we have already referred; the eastern chapels of St Peter’s, Caen, from the designs of Hector Sohier (1521), both internally and externally of great interest; the west end of the church at Vétheuil (Seine-et-Oise); the magnificent work of the west front and tower of the church at Gisors; the upper part of the west front of the cathedral at Angers; the portals of the church at Auxonne (Fichot); the choir at Tillières; the lantern of the church of St Peter, Coutances (1541); the porch of the Dalbade at Toulouse; and the north front of the church of Ste Clotilde at Les Andelys, which dates from the age of Henry II.
The church of St Eustache at Paris, begun in 1533, but not completed till the end of the century, is a large cruciform Gothic structure with lofty double aisles on each side and carried round the choir, and rectangular chapels round the whole building, excepting the west end. Structurally also it possesses all the most characteristic features of the Gothic church, with nave arcades carried on compound piers, triforium and clerestory, vaulted throughout, and flying buttresses outside. Close examination shows that all the details are of the early cinque-cento work, panelled pilasters of varying proportions, but with Renaissance capitals, corbels, niches and canopies all grouped together in a Gothic manner, and quite opposed to the principles of the Italian revivalists; what is more remarkable is that though long before its completion these principles had already borne fruit in the Louvre and Tuileries, the original conception was adhered to, and the portals of the north and south transepts (the last features added, with the exception of the ugly west front of the 18th century) still retain the character of the early French Renaissance.
In St Étienne-du-Mont, sometimes claimed as a second example, the church is Flamboyant Gothic throughout, the chief additions being the magnificent rood-screen of 1600, and the west portal, in which the banded columns of the Bourbon period form the chief features.
Coming to churches of later date, Salomon de Brosse (c. 1565-1627), the architect of the Luxembourg palace, added in 1616 a fresh front to the church of St Gervais, finely proportioned and of pure Italian design, which contrasts favourably with the Jesuits’ church of St Paul and St Louis (1627-1641), overladen with rococo ornament; then came the churches of the Sorbonne (1629), by Jacques Lemercier, and of the Val-de-Grace (1645), by François Mansart, the dome of the latter, though small, being a fine design; the church of the Invalides, also by Mansart, the dome of which is the most graceful in France; the cathedral of Nancy (1703-1742), by Jules Hardouin Mansart and Germain Boffrand (1667-1754), the principal front of which is flanked by two towers with octagonal lanterns which group so well with the central portion (of the usual design, in two stages with pilasters and coupled columns, carrying a third stage with circular pediment) that it is unfortunate it should be almost the only example of its kind; and lastly the church of Ste Geneviève, better known as the Panthéon (1755), by Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713-1780), the dome of which is based largely on that of St Peter’s in Rome. The main building with its great portico is a simple and fine piece of design, and unlike St Peter’s the dome is well seen from every point of view; the decoration of its walls with paintings by Puvis de Chavannes and other French artists has now rendered the interior one of the most interesting in France.
(R. P. S.)
Renaissance Architecture in Spain
In Spain, as in France, the revival of classic architecture was engrafted on the Flamboyant style of the country, influenced here and there by Moorish work, so that the earlier examples of Spanish Renaissance constitute a transitional style which lasted till the accession of Philip II. (1558), who introduced what was then considered to be the purer Italian style of Palladio and Vignola. This, however, did not seem to have had much attraction for the Spaniards, owing to its coldness and formality, so that in the latter half of the 17th century a reaction took place in favour of the most depraved and decadent architecture in existence.
The magnificence of the earlier Renaissance work, which was introduced into Spain when she was at the zenith of her power, and (owing to the discovery of a new world) the possessor of enormous wealth, has scarcely yet been recognized, in consequence of the greater attraction of the Moorish architecture; there isno doubt that its exuberant richness in the 16th century derives its inspiration from the latter, and especially so in patios or courts found in every class of building, ecclesiastical as well as civil. There is still, however, another characteristic in the early Renaissance of Spain, which is not found in Italy or France, and which again owes its source to Moorish work, where the external walls and towers consist of simple plain masonry, and the rich decoration, generally in stucco brilliantly coloured and gilded, is confined to the courts and to the interiors of their magnificent halls. The Italian method of decorating the external front of the palaces with flat pilasters of the various orders placed at regular intervals, the windows and doors forming features of second-rate importance, was not followed by the architects of the Spanish Renaissance, who retained the simple plain masonry and reserved their decorations for the entrance doorways and windows, emphasizing therefore these features, and by contrast increasing their value and interest.
Instead also of the hugecornicionewhich the Italians employed to give the shadows required to emphasize the crowning features of their palaces, the Spanish architects preferred to obtain a similar effect by an open arcaded upper storey, which, as Fergusson remarks, “forms one of the most pleasing architectural features that can be applied to palatial architecture, giving lightness combined with shadow exactly where wanted for effect and where they can be applied without any apparent interference with solidity.” These galleries would seem to have been provided to serve as promenades to the occupants of the palace, and more especially for the ladies when it would have been unwise or imprudent for them to venture into the streets. There is one well-known example in France, in the château of Blois, which is so attractive a feature that it is singular it has not been more often adopted.
Instead also of the monotonous balustrade, which is invariably found in Italy, the Spanish architects introduced richly carved crestings, with finials at regular intervals, a feature probably borrowed from Flamboyant Gothic and Moorish.
The three periods into which the architectural phases of the Renaissance style in Spain are divided are:—(1) The Plateresque or Silversmiths’ work, from the conquest of Granada to the reign of Philip II. (2) The purer Italian style, called by the Spanish the Greco-Roman, though it has no Greek elements in its design, being based on the work of Palladio and Vignola. This style prevailed until the end of the 17th century. (3) The Rococo or Churrigueresque style, so called from the name of the architect, José Churriguera (d. 1725), the chief leader of the movement, which lasted for about 100 years.
Ecclesiastical Architecture.—The cathedral of Granada, built from the designs of Diego de Siloé, is the earliest example of the Renaissance in Spain, and in some respects the most remarkable, not only for its plan, in which there is an entirely new feature, but for the scheme adopted in the vaulting, which covers the whole church, and shows that its architect had studied the earlier Gothic churches, and was well acquainted with the principles of thrust and counter-thrust developed in them. The cathedral is 400 ft. long by 230 ft. wide, and therefore of the first class as far as size is concerned. The western portion consists of nave and double aisles on each side, the outer aisle being carried round the whole church and giving access to the chapels which enclose the building. The principal feature of the cathedral is at the east end, where the place of the ordinary apse is occupied by a great circular area, 70 ft. in diameter, crowned by a lofty dome, in the centre of which in a flood of light stands the high altar. The vista from the nave through the great arch (37 ft. 6 in. wide and 97 ft. high) is extremely fine, and it is strange that it should be the only example of its kind. The west front was completed at a later date; the only feature of it belonging to the original church being the north-west tower, which, in its design, resembles the south-west tower of the church at Gisors in France. There are two other important Renaissance cathedrals at Jaen and Valladolid. The latter was built from a design of Juan de Badajoz in 1585 but never completed. On the south side of the cathedral is the chapel in which the Catholic kings lie buried, where there are two fine marble tombs enclosed by therejaor wrought-iron screen partly gilt, forged in 1522 by Maestre Bartholome. Thesagrarioor parish church, also on the south side, is a small version of the scheme of design employed in the cathedral.In Spain, as in France, magnificent portals have been added to cathedrals and churches, and these are amongst the finest works of the Renaissance period. The more remarkable of these are the portals of the cathedral of Malaga, a deeply recessed porch, enriched with slender shafts and niches between; of Santa Engracia at Saragossa; and of Santo Domingo and the cathedral at Salamanca. Externally the Renaissance domes over the crossings of Spanish cathedrals are poor, but this is compensated for by the lofty steeples which form striking features. The western towers of the cathedral at Valladolid; the tower of the Seo in Saragossa, which bears some resemblance to Wren’s steeples in the setting back of the several storeys and the crowning with octagonal lanterns; the tower of the cathedral Del Pilar at Saragossa, and that at Santiago, are all interesting examples of the Spanish Renaissance.One of the most beautiful features of the Spanish Renaissance is found in the magnificentrejasor wrought-iron grilles, richly gilt, which form the enclosures of the chapels. Besides the example at Granada, others are found at Seville, where is the masterpiece of Sancho Muñoz (1528); at Palencia (1582); Cuenca (1557), where there are three fine examples; Toledo; Salamanca; and other cathedrals. The iron pulpit at Avila, the eagle lectern at Cuenca and the staircase railing at Burgos are all remarkable works in metal.Secular Architecture.—With the exception of the magnificent portals, the finest works of the Renaissance in Spain as in France are to be found in the secular buildings, but with this difference, that the best examples in France are those built in the country or in comparatively small provincial towns, whereas in Spain they are all in the midst of the larger towns, and further they are not confined to palaces and chateaux; monasteries and universities coming in for an equal share in the great architectural development.The characteristic style of the Spanish architecture of the Renaissance period is due probably to the influence of the earlier Moorish work, where the value of the rich Alhambresque decorations in the entrance doorways and windows, and the patios or courts, is enhanced by contrast with the plain masonry of their walls and towers. This influence had already been felt in the Spanish flamboyant Gothic panelling and tracery; when translated into Renaissance, and probably, at first, executed by Italian artists, it displayed a variety and beauty in its design scarcely inferior to some of the best work in Italy. And this development, taking place at a time when Spain was overflowing with wealth, resulted in that exuberant richness we find in the entrance doorways and windows, the external galleries of the upper storey, and the rich cresting surmounting the cornice.Comparison with the contemporary and even earlier work in Italy, where the principal thought of the architect would seem to have been to break the wall surface by an unmeaning series of flat pilasters, and then fill in the windows as features of secondary importance, will show that the Spanish architect recognized more fully the true principle of design, and although, in the profiles of their mouldings, and the execution of the sculpture decorating their pilasters and friezes, Spanish work in contrast with Italian looks somewhat coarse, in general picturesqueness it is far in advance of the palaces of Rome, Florence, and even Venice, and has not yet received the recognition which it deserves.The earliest palace built in the Renaissance style is that which adjoins the Alhambra at Granada, and was begun by the emperor Charles V. for his own residence in 1527, but never completed. The building is nearly an exact square of 205 ft., with a great circular court in the centre, nearly 100 ft. in diameter. This central court was enclosed by a colonnade with Doric columns, and an upper storey with columns of the Ionic order. From the unfinished condition of the palace and the absence of roofs, it is difficult to decide what the form of the latter might have been. But the design, begun by Pedro Machuca and continued by Alonso Berruguete (1480-1561), is so remarkable that it ought to be better known. Its proximity to the Alhambra, however, deprives it of the attention which otherwise it deserves for the purity of its details and for its good proportion.A second palace, the Alcazar at Toledo, was begun in 1540 by Charles II., but little else than the bare walls remain, as it was destroyed by fire in 1886, after having been twice rebuilt. In its design it belongs to the true Spanish type of the Renaissance, with the simple ashlar masonry of its walls and the accentuation of the principal entrance doorway and the windows. In this palace also the plan is square, about 110 ft., with a square courtyard (240 ft.).The third palace built, the Escorial, some 20 m. to the north-east of Madrid, is the most renowned—more, however, on account of its immense size than for its design. It was built for Philip II. and begun in 1563 from the designs of Juan Bautista de Toledo, being completed by his pupil, Juan de Herrera, in 1584. The principal front is 680 ft. in width, the depth of the palace 540 ft., with the king’s residence in the rear. The plan is a fine conception, and consists of a large entrance court in the centre, with the church in the rear, having on the right the Colegio and on the left the monastery, with numerous courts in each case. The church is 320 ft. long by 220 ft. wide, the principal portion being the intersection of the nave and transept, which is covered by a dome. The coro is placed above the entrance vestibule, which is 100 ft. long and 27 ft. high, imperfectly lighted, but by contrast emphasizing the dimensions and the splendour of the church beyond. Externally the grouping is fine; the lofty towers at the angles, the central composition of the main front, and at the rear of the court the front of the churchwith its corner towers and the great dome, all form an exceedingly picturesque group, and it is only when one begins to examine the work in detail that its poverty in design reveals itself. Instead of accentuating the windows of the principal storeys and giving them appropriate dressings, the fronts are pierced with innumerable windows, which give the appearance of a factory, and the angle towers, nine storeys high, look like ordinary “sky-scrapers,” without any of the dignity and importance which the architectural design of a palace requires. The same applies to the great entrance courts five storeys high with an attic, all of the most commonplace design. Internally the church is fine, but it is dwarfed by the immense size of the Doric pilasters, 62 ft. high, all in plain stone masonry, the coldness of which is emphasized by the rich colouring of the vaulted ceilings and the elaboration of the pavement, all in coloured marbles. The palace is regarded by the Spaniards as the Versailles of Spain, and if it had been possible to have interchanged some of the features, to transfer to Versailles some of the towers, and to break up the wall surface of the Escorial with the superimposed order of pilasters, which became monotonous by their repetition at Versailles, both palaces would have gained.The palace at Madrid is the last of the series, and although it was begun at a much later period, by Philip V. in 1737, from the designs of the Italian architect Sachetti, it is a fine and simple composition, consisting of a lofty ground storey with coursed masonry, carrying semi-detached columns of the Ionic order, rising through three storeys, the whole crowned by an entablature and a bold balustrade. The slightly projecting wings at each end of the main front and the central frontispiece give that variety and play of light and shade of which one regrets the absence in the Cancellaria palace at Rome.We must, however, retrace our steps to the beginning of the 16th century, to take up the early buildings of the style; the palace of the Conde de Monterey at Salamanca, built in 1530 from the designs of Alonso de Covarrubias, is a fine example. The masonry of the ground and first floors is of the simplest character, the decoration being confined to the entrance doorways and to the windows of the important rooms. It is on the second floor that the design becomes enriched with an open arcade and entablature above, crowned with a rich cresting. In the wings at the angles, and in the central block, the buildings are carried up an additional storey, the plain masonry of which gives value to the open galleries between. On these wings and the central block are other galleries crowned with entablature and cresting. These features therefore form towers, which break the sky-line. There is still another treatment peculiar to the Spanish Renaissance, in which the example of the Moorish palaces would seem to have been followed, viz. the elaborate carving of the pilasters and their capitals, of the panelling and the horizontal friezes, which is extremely minute and finished in the lower storeys, but increases in scale and projection towards the upper storeys. This is very notable in the entrance gateway of the university of Salamanca (Plate V., fig. 73), where the carved arabesque in the panelling above the doors is of the finest description, equal to what might be found in cabinet work, whilst that of the upper portion immediately under the cornice is at least twice the scale of that below and is in bold relief.The principal buildings characteristic of the Spanish Renaissance, in chronological order, are:—the hospital of Santa Cruz at Toledo, built in 1504-1514, and the Hospicio de los Reyes at Santiago (1504), both from the designs of Enrique de Egas, the former with a magnificent portal rising through two storeys and a gallery with an open arcade above; the Irish college at Salamanca, built (1521) from the designs of Pedro de Ibarra, Alonso de Covarrubias, and Berruguete; the convent of San Marcos, Leon, by Juan de Badajoz (1514-1545)—here, however, the whole façade is panelled out in imitation of late Gothic work, Renaissance pilasters and devices taking the place of the buttresses set angle-wise and flamboyant panelling; the Colegio de San Ildefonso at Alcalá de Henares (formerly the seat of the university), built in 1557-1584 by Rodrigo Gil de Ontañon.Of municipal buildings the Lonja or exchange at Toledo (1551), built in brick-work, is somewhat Florentine in style.The town hall of Seville (1527-1532), by Diego de Riaño and Martin Garuza, may be taken as the most gorgeous example in Spain (Plate V., fig. 74). The front facing the square is very simple, compared with the façade in the street at the rear, and here again we find, in the ornamental carving of the windows and door mouldings on the ground floor, a different scale from that adopted on the first floor, where the shafts are enriched with a superabundance of carved ornament in strong relief. There is still one other feature of great importance in Spain, the magnificent galleries of the patios or courts found in all the important buildings. It is from these galleries that access is obtained to the rooms on the first floor. They have sometimes arcades on the first floor, and columns with bracket-capitals on the upper storey. There is an infinite variety of design in these capitals, the brackets on each side of which lessen the bearing of the architrave.The earliest Renaissance example of these patios (1525) is in the Irish college at Salamanca; it was carved by Berruguete, Alonso de Covarrubias being the architect. In the same town is the Casa de la Salinas, another example with fine sculpture. In the Casa Polentina (1550) at Avila, and the Casa de Miranda at Burgos, columns with bracket-capitals are employed on both storeys. Rich examples are found in the Casa de la Infanta and Casa Zaporta (1580), both at Saragossa. Of late examples the patio of the Lonja at Seville by Juan de Herrera resembles in its style the courtyard of the Farnese palace at Rome; and the same style obtains in the court of the Escorial, built at a time when the purer Italian style was introduced into Spain. These courts, though cold in design, compared with the earlier Renaissance type, are of fine proportion. Two other examples are found in the bishop’s palace at Alcalá de Henares, one of which has a magnificent staircase.
Ecclesiastical Architecture.—The cathedral of Granada, built from the designs of Diego de Siloé, is the earliest example of the Renaissance in Spain, and in some respects the most remarkable, not only for its plan, in which there is an entirely new feature, but for the scheme adopted in the vaulting, which covers the whole church, and shows that its architect had studied the earlier Gothic churches, and was well acquainted with the principles of thrust and counter-thrust developed in them. The cathedral is 400 ft. long by 230 ft. wide, and therefore of the first class as far as size is concerned. The western portion consists of nave and double aisles on each side, the outer aisle being carried round the whole church and giving access to the chapels which enclose the building. The principal feature of the cathedral is at the east end, where the place of the ordinary apse is occupied by a great circular area, 70 ft. in diameter, crowned by a lofty dome, in the centre of which in a flood of light stands the high altar. The vista from the nave through the great arch (37 ft. 6 in. wide and 97 ft. high) is extremely fine, and it is strange that it should be the only example of its kind. The west front was completed at a later date; the only feature of it belonging to the original church being the north-west tower, which, in its design, resembles the south-west tower of the church at Gisors in France. There are two other important Renaissance cathedrals at Jaen and Valladolid. The latter was built from a design of Juan de Badajoz in 1585 but never completed. On the south side of the cathedral is the chapel in which the Catholic kings lie buried, where there are two fine marble tombs enclosed by therejaor wrought-iron screen partly gilt, forged in 1522 by Maestre Bartholome. Thesagrarioor parish church, also on the south side, is a small version of the scheme of design employed in the cathedral.
In Spain, as in France, magnificent portals have been added to cathedrals and churches, and these are amongst the finest works of the Renaissance period. The more remarkable of these are the portals of the cathedral of Malaga, a deeply recessed porch, enriched with slender shafts and niches between; of Santa Engracia at Saragossa; and of Santo Domingo and the cathedral at Salamanca. Externally the Renaissance domes over the crossings of Spanish cathedrals are poor, but this is compensated for by the lofty steeples which form striking features. The western towers of the cathedral at Valladolid; the tower of the Seo in Saragossa, which bears some resemblance to Wren’s steeples in the setting back of the several storeys and the crowning with octagonal lanterns; the tower of the cathedral Del Pilar at Saragossa, and that at Santiago, are all interesting examples of the Spanish Renaissance.
One of the most beautiful features of the Spanish Renaissance is found in the magnificentrejasor wrought-iron grilles, richly gilt, which form the enclosures of the chapels. Besides the example at Granada, others are found at Seville, where is the masterpiece of Sancho Muñoz (1528); at Palencia (1582); Cuenca (1557), where there are three fine examples; Toledo; Salamanca; and other cathedrals. The iron pulpit at Avila, the eagle lectern at Cuenca and the staircase railing at Burgos are all remarkable works in metal.
Secular Architecture.—With the exception of the magnificent portals, the finest works of the Renaissance in Spain as in France are to be found in the secular buildings, but with this difference, that the best examples in France are those built in the country or in comparatively small provincial towns, whereas in Spain they are all in the midst of the larger towns, and further they are not confined to palaces and chateaux; monasteries and universities coming in for an equal share in the great architectural development.
The characteristic style of the Spanish architecture of the Renaissance period is due probably to the influence of the earlier Moorish work, where the value of the rich Alhambresque decorations in the entrance doorways and windows, and the patios or courts, is enhanced by contrast with the plain masonry of their walls and towers. This influence had already been felt in the Spanish flamboyant Gothic panelling and tracery; when translated into Renaissance, and probably, at first, executed by Italian artists, it displayed a variety and beauty in its design scarcely inferior to some of the best work in Italy. And this development, taking place at a time when Spain was overflowing with wealth, resulted in that exuberant richness we find in the entrance doorways and windows, the external galleries of the upper storey, and the rich cresting surmounting the cornice.
Comparison with the contemporary and even earlier work in Italy, where the principal thought of the architect would seem to have been to break the wall surface by an unmeaning series of flat pilasters, and then fill in the windows as features of secondary importance, will show that the Spanish architect recognized more fully the true principle of design, and although, in the profiles of their mouldings, and the execution of the sculpture decorating their pilasters and friezes, Spanish work in contrast with Italian looks somewhat coarse, in general picturesqueness it is far in advance of the palaces of Rome, Florence, and even Venice, and has not yet received the recognition which it deserves.
The earliest palace built in the Renaissance style is that which adjoins the Alhambra at Granada, and was begun by the emperor Charles V. for his own residence in 1527, but never completed. The building is nearly an exact square of 205 ft., with a great circular court in the centre, nearly 100 ft. in diameter. This central court was enclosed by a colonnade with Doric columns, and an upper storey with columns of the Ionic order. From the unfinished condition of the palace and the absence of roofs, it is difficult to decide what the form of the latter might have been. But the design, begun by Pedro Machuca and continued by Alonso Berruguete (1480-1561), is so remarkable that it ought to be better known. Its proximity to the Alhambra, however, deprives it of the attention which otherwise it deserves for the purity of its details and for its good proportion.
A second palace, the Alcazar at Toledo, was begun in 1540 by Charles II., but little else than the bare walls remain, as it was destroyed by fire in 1886, after having been twice rebuilt. In its design it belongs to the true Spanish type of the Renaissance, with the simple ashlar masonry of its walls and the accentuation of the principal entrance doorway and the windows. In this palace also the plan is square, about 110 ft., with a square courtyard (240 ft.).
The third palace built, the Escorial, some 20 m. to the north-east of Madrid, is the most renowned—more, however, on account of its immense size than for its design. It was built for Philip II. and begun in 1563 from the designs of Juan Bautista de Toledo, being completed by his pupil, Juan de Herrera, in 1584. The principal front is 680 ft. in width, the depth of the palace 540 ft., with the king’s residence in the rear. The plan is a fine conception, and consists of a large entrance court in the centre, with the church in the rear, having on the right the Colegio and on the left the monastery, with numerous courts in each case. The church is 320 ft. long by 220 ft. wide, the principal portion being the intersection of the nave and transept, which is covered by a dome. The coro is placed above the entrance vestibule, which is 100 ft. long and 27 ft. high, imperfectly lighted, but by contrast emphasizing the dimensions and the splendour of the church beyond. Externally the grouping is fine; the lofty towers at the angles, the central composition of the main front, and at the rear of the court the front of the churchwith its corner towers and the great dome, all form an exceedingly picturesque group, and it is only when one begins to examine the work in detail that its poverty in design reveals itself. Instead of accentuating the windows of the principal storeys and giving them appropriate dressings, the fronts are pierced with innumerable windows, which give the appearance of a factory, and the angle towers, nine storeys high, look like ordinary “sky-scrapers,” without any of the dignity and importance which the architectural design of a palace requires. The same applies to the great entrance courts five storeys high with an attic, all of the most commonplace design. Internally the church is fine, but it is dwarfed by the immense size of the Doric pilasters, 62 ft. high, all in plain stone masonry, the coldness of which is emphasized by the rich colouring of the vaulted ceilings and the elaboration of the pavement, all in coloured marbles. The palace is regarded by the Spaniards as the Versailles of Spain, and if it had been possible to have interchanged some of the features, to transfer to Versailles some of the towers, and to break up the wall surface of the Escorial with the superimposed order of pilasters, which became monotonous by their repetition at Versailles, both palaces would have gained.
The palace at Madrid is the last of the series, and although it was begun at a much later period, by Philip V. in 1737, from the designs of the Italian architect Sachetti, it is a fine and simple composition, consisting of a lofty ground storey with coursed masonry, carrying semi-detached columns of the Ionic order, rising through three storeys, the whole crowned by an entablature and a bold balustrade. The slightly projecting wings at each end of the main front and the central frontispiece give that variety and play of light and shade of which one regrets the absence in the Cancellaria palace at Rome.
We must, however, retrace our steps to the beginning of the 16th century, to take up the early buildings of the style; the palace of the Conde de Monterey at Salamanca, built in 1530 from the designs of Alonso de Covarrubias, is a fine example. The masonry of the ground and first floors is of the simplest character, the decoration being confined to the entrance doorways and to the windows of the important rooms. It is on the second floor that the design becomes enriched with an open arcade and entablature above, crowned with a rich cresting. In the wings at the angles, and in the central block, the buildings are carried up an additional storey, the plain masonry of which gives value to the open galleries between. On these wings and the central block are other galleries crowned with entablature and cresting. These features therefore form towers, which break the sky-line. There is still another treatment peculiar to the Spanish Renaissance, in which the example of the Moorish palaces would seem to have been followed, viz. the elaborate carving of the pilasters and their capitals, of the panelling and the horizontal friezes, which is extremely minute and finished in the lower storeys, but increases in scale and projection towards the upper storeys. This is very notable in the entrance gateway of the university of Salamanca (Plate V., fig. 73), where the carved arabesque in the panelling above the doors is of the finest description, equal to what might be found in cabinet work, whilst that of the upper portion immediately under the cornice is at least twice the scale of that below and is in bold relief.
The principal buildings characteristic of the Spanish Renaissance, in chronological order, are:—the hospital of Santa Cruz at Toledo, built in 1504-1514, and the Hospicio de los Reyes at Santiago (1504), both from the designs of Enrique de Egas, the former with a magnificent portal rising through two storeys and a gallery with an open arcade above; the Irish college at Salamanca, built (1521) from the designs of Pedro de Ibarra, Alonso de Covarrubias, and Berruguete; the convent of San Marcos, Leon, by Juan de Badajoz (1514-1545)—here, however, the whole façade is panelled out in imitation of late Gothic work, Renaissance pilasters and devices taking the place of the buttresses set angle-wise and flamboyant panelling; the Colegio de San Ildefonso at Alcalá de Henares (formerly the seat of the university), built in 1557-1584 by Rodrigo Gil de Ontañon.
Of municipal buildings the Lonja or exchange at Toledo (1551), built in brick-work, is somewhat Florentine in style.
The town hall of Seville (1527-1532), by Diego de Riaño and Martin Garuza, may be taken as the most gorgeous example in Spain (Plate V., fig. 74). The front facing the square is very simple, compared with the façade in the street at the rear, and here again we find, in the ornamental carving of the windows and door mouldings on the ground floor, a different scale from that adopted on the first floor, where the shafts are enriched with a superabundance of carved ornament in strong relief. There is still one other feature of great importance in Spain, the magnificent galleries of the patios or courts found in all the important buildings. It is from these galleries that access is obtained to the rooms on the first floor. They have sometimes arcades on the first floor, and columns with bracket-capitals on the upper storey. There is an infinite variety of design in these capitals, the brackets on each side of which lessen the bearing of the architrave.
The earliest Renaissance example of these patios (1525) is in the Irish college at Salamanca; it was carved by Berruguete, Alonso de Covarrubias being the architect. In the same town is the Casa de la Salinas, another example with fine sculpture. In the Casa Polentina (1550) at Avila, and the Casa de Miranda at Burgos, columns with bracket-capitals are employed on both storeys. Rich examples are found in the Casa de la Infanta and Casa Zaporta (1580), both at Saragossa. Of late examples the patio of the Lonja at Seville by Juan de Herrera resembles in its style the courtyard of the Farnese palace at Rome; and the same style obtains in the court of the Escorial, built at a time when the purer Italian style was introduced into Spain. These courts, though cold in design, compared with the earlier Renaissance type, are of fine proportion. Two other examples are found in the bishop’s palace at Alcalá de Henares, one of which has a magnificent staircase.
(R. P. S.)
Renaissance Architecture in England
In England, as in France, the influence of the Classic Revival was first seen in connexion with tombs and church work, though not nearly to the same extent as in France, where throughout the country the work of the Italian sculptor is to be found not only in churches but in country mansions. On the other hand, two if not three of the Italian artists who came over to England were men of some reputation, such as Pietro Torrigiano, a Florentine sculptor who was invited over by Henry VIII. and entrusted with the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey (1512-1518), and executed the tomb of John Young (in terra-cotta) in the Rolls chapel (1516). Another Italian was Giovanni da Maiano, who was also a Florentine, who modelled the busts of the emperors in the terra-cotta medallions over the entrance gates at Hampton Court, and probably the panel flanked by Corinthian pilasters, in which are modelled the arms of Cardinal Wolsey, also in terra-cotta. Benedetto da Rovezzano (1478-c.1552), and Toto del Nunziata, Italian artists of note, were also employed in England, the first on the tomb of Cardinal Wolsey (now destroyed), and the second on the palace of Nonsuch, built by Henry VIII., which was pulled down in 1670. Other early Renaissance work is found at Christchurch Priory, in the Salisbury Chantry (1529), the design of which is Gothic and some of the details Italian, and in the tombs of the countess of Richmond in Westminster Abbey (1519), of the earl of Arundel in Arundel church, Sussex, of Henry, Lord Marney, at Layer Marney (1525), of the duke of Richmond (1537) and the duchess of Norfolk (1572) in Framlingham church; and of Queen Anne of Cleves (1557) in Westminster Abbey, attributed to Haveus of Cleves. The sedilia (in terra-cotta) of Wymondham church, Norfolk, the choir screen at St Cross, and Bishop Gardiner’s chantry, Winchester, and the vaulted roof of Bishop West’s chapel at Ely, all show the direct influence of the Italian cinque-cento style. The most beautiful example in England of Italian woodwork is the organ screen in King’s College chapel, Cambridge (1534-1539), which, except for the coats of arms, the roses, portcullis and other English emblems, might be in some Italian church, so perfect is its design and execution. Of early domestic work, Sutton Place (1523-1525), near Guildford, Surrey, is a good example of transition work. The design is Tudor, but the window mullions and panels inserted throughout the structure, which is built in brick, are all enriched with cinque-cento details in terra-cotta, and probably executed by Italian craftsmen. Similar enrichments in the same material are found decorating the entrance tower (1522-1525) at Layer Marney, Essex.
Nearly all the examples above mentioned come within the first half of the 16th century. Passing into the second half and dealing with domestic architecture, we find the history of the introduction of classic work into England more complicated than in other countries, because in addition to the Italian, we have French, Flemish and German influences to reckon with, and it is sometimes difficult to decide from which source the features are borrowed. There were, however, two still more important considerations to be taken into account—firstly, the extremely conservative character of the English people, who were satisfied with the traditional work of the country, and the methods by which it was carried out, and secondly, the great progress in design which was made during the Elizabethan period, resulting in a phase which was peculiarly English and did not lend itself easily to classic embellishment.
Already in the last phase of Gothic work, to which the title of Tudor is generally given, important changes were being made in the planning of the larger country mansions, and featureswere introduced which seemed to give an impetus towards their further development.
The most important of these features were the following:—the bow window, rectangular or polygonal, of which the earliest examples date from the reign of Edward IV. (1461-1483), such as Eltham Palace in Kent, Cowdray Castle in Sussex, and Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, and at a later period at Hampton Court; octagonal towers or turrets flanking the entrance gateway at each end of the main front; the projecting forward of the side wings so as to get better light to the rooms in them by having windows on both sides, such projections varying the otherwise monotonous effect of a uniform façade without breaks; the long gallery (generally on an upper floor), which was an important characteristic of the Elizabethan house; and last but not least, the adherence to the type of old Tudor window, with its moulded mullions and transoms but with square head.One of the first modifications was the introduction of semicircular bow windows, as in Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, followed by a second example at Burton Agnes in Yorkshire (1602-1610), and a third at Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire (1635). They were carried up through three storeys at Kirby Hall, the upper storey in the roof; three storeys at Burton Agnes with balcony and balustrade; and two storeys at Lilford Hall—these features being extremely simple but fine in effect, and the windows with moulded mullions and transoms lending themselves naturally to the curve.The projecting bays and bow windows seemed to have such an attraction for the builders of these country mansions that at Burton Agnes (with a rectangular plan of 120 ft. by 80 ft.) there are no fewer than thirteen of them, which break up the wall surface and give a picturesque group externally, whilst internally they add to the fine effect of the rooms. At Barlborough Hall, Derbyshire, with a frontage of 80 ft., there is a central rectangular bay forming the entrance porch and carried up above the roof, and two large octagonal bow windows which rise as towers with an extra storey. In all these mansions the only influence which the Revival seems to have exerted was in the introduction of an entablature, which sometimes takes the place of the Gothic string course, balustrades which crown the building, but with no projecting cornice, and gables with curved outlines and Renaissance panels or scrolls. The fact is that, with prominent features so widely differing from those which were represented on the perspective drawings attached to the earlier publications of the five orders, such as those of Serlio (1537) and Vredeman de Vries of Antwerp (1577), the only course left open to the master-mason was to decorate the principal entrance with columns and pilasters of the Classic orders, sometimes superposed one upon the other.To the further development of this singular introduction of the Classic orders we shall return; for the moment it will be better to follow a chronological sequence and take up the principal examples of the country mansion, some of which were from the first intended to be Classic buildings. Of the house built at Gorhambury in Hertfordshire (1563) for Sir Nicholas Bacon, the father of Lord Bacon, too little remains to render its design intelligible, except that it still retains in its lofty window the Tudor pointed arch; but in Longleat in Wiltshire, built by Sir John Thynne (1567-1580), we have a typical example, the design of which departs from the English type, though it would seem to have been carried out according to the traditional custom of entrusting the whole work to a master-mason, and furnishing him with sketch designs of some kind suggesting the required arrangements of the plan, the principal features of the exterior elevation and the internal disposition. This custom was adhered to far into the 18th century at Oxford and Cambridge, where the alterations and additions to some of the colleges, such as the chapel of Clare College, Cambridge (1763), were carried out by master-masons or builders who were supplied with sketch designs and sometimes even the materials for the buildings they had to carry out, notwithstanding the existence of properly trained architects, who from the first half of the 17th century were usually entrusted with the preparation of the necessary designs for new structures of any considerable importance.The name of the designer of Longleat is not known; the master-mason was Robert Smithson, who in 1580 went to Wollaton in Nottinghamshire and constructed the mansion there. Longleat is so Italian in style that it must have been conceived by some one who had been in Italy, because it departs from the usual English type. The plan is rectangular, with a frontage of 220 ft. by 180 ft. deep, an entrance porch in the centre, with two projecting bays on each side carried up through the three storeys, and three similar bays on the flanks. The whole block is crowned with a parapet, the centre portion of which is pierced with a balustrade, but the main cornice bears no resemblance to the Italian feature, being only that of the entablature of the upper order. The projecting bays are decorated with pilasters of the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders, each with its proper entablature. These classic features would seem to have been copied from a work by John Shute, painter and architect, who had been sent to Italy by the duke of Northumberland in 1551, and in 1563 brought out hisChief Groundes of Architecture, the first practical work published in English on architecture. Shute died in the same year, but two other editions appeared in 1579 and 1584, which shows that it must have had an extensive circulation and probably exercised the greatest influence on English architecture. A second book on the orders, already referred to as published in 1577 by Jan Vredeman de Vries of Antwerp, was not of the same type, for instead of confining his work, like Shute and Serlio, to a simple representation of the Classic orders, he introduced, on the shafts of his columns and on the pedestals, designs of the most debased rococo type, with additional plates suggesting their application to various buildings. Robert Smithson, or his client Sir Fr. Willoughby, apparently obtained a copy of this book, and the result is seen (Plate VI., fig. 76) in the mansion built at Wollaton (1580-1588), in which we find the first examples of elaborately decorated pedestals; crestings on the angle towers, the design of which is known as strap-work; and medallions with busts in them, enclosed with twisted curves similar to those which flowers and leaves take when thrown into the fire. The plan and the scheme of the design of Wollaton is, however, so far superior to the usual type, that it may fairly be ascribed to John Thorpe, an architect or surveyor, of whose drawings there is a large collection in the Soane Museum, representing many of the more important mansions of the Elizabethan era; some of his own design, others either plans measured from existing buildings upon which he was called in to report or copies from other sources, and some reproduced from published works such as Vredeman de Vries’s pattern book and Androuet du Cerceau’sDes plus excellents bastiments de France(1576).To John Thorpe is also attributed the design of Kirby Hall (1570-1572) in Northamptonshire, in which the plan of the feudal castle with great central court is still retained. This court is symmetrically designed, and was evidently considered to be the principal feature, the decoration being far richer than that of the exterior of the building.Amongst other important mansions are Moreton Old Hall (1550-1559, partly rebuilt in 1602; seeHouse, Plate III., fig. 11) in Cheshire, a fine house in half-timber; Knole House, Kent (1570), possibly also designed by John Thorpe; Charlecote Hall (1572) near Stratford-on-Avon; Burleigh House, Northamptonshire (1575), the most remarkable feature in which is the great tower in the courtyard, decorated with the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders superposed, the design apparently suggested by a similar feature in the château of Anet, France (published in du Cerceau); Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire (1580); Montacute House, Somersetshire (1580-1600); Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire (1583-1589); Brereton Hall, Cheshire (1575-1586), in brick and stone; Westwood Park, Worcestershire (1590); Wakehurst Place, Sussex (1590); Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (1590-1597); Longford Castle, Wiltshire (1591-1612); Cobham Hall, Kent (1594); Dorton House, Buckinghamshire (1596); Speke Hall, Lancashire (1598), partly in half-timber work; Holland House, Kensington (1606; wings and arcades, 1624); Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire (1607-1613); Charlton House, Kent (1607); Bramshill, Hampshire (1607-1612), an interesting example of Jacobean architecture; Hatfield, Hertfordshire (1608-1611), with an extremely fine courtyard (north side in brick and stone, 1621); Audley End, Essex (1610-1616), a great portion of which was afterwards pulled down; Ham House, Surrey (1610), chiefly in brick; Pinkie House, at Musselburgh in Midlothian (1613); Aston Hall near Birmingham (1618-1635); Blickling Hall, Norfolk (1619); Heriot’s hospital, Edinburgh (1628-1659); and Lanhydroc, Cornwall (1636-1641), which brings us down to the period of the pure Italian Revival introduced by Inigo Jones.We have already referred to the reproduction of the Classic orders, superposed as an enrichment of the principal entrance doorways. In addition to Burton Agnes and Burleigh House, there are endless examples in mansions and country houses, but the most remarkable are those at Oxford: in the old Schools, where coupled columns flank the entrance gateway with the five orders superposed, and in Merton and Wadham Colleges, with four orders (the Tuscan being omitted), in neither case taking any cognizance of the levels of windows or string courses of the earlier building to which they were applied, or serving any structural purpose. The orders were all taken from one of the pattern books, and in the Schools and in Merton College the rococo ornament and strap-work found in Vredeman de Vries’s work were copied with more or less fidelity to the original. There are, however, two or three buildings in Northamptonshire which are free from rococo work, and in their design form a pleasant contrast, as much to the elaboration of the buildings just described as to the cold formality of the works of the later Italian style. Lyveden new buildings (1577), the Triangular Lodge at Rushton, and the Market House at Rothwell, are all examples in which the orders from Serlio or John Shute are faithfully represented, and are of a refined character; in the first named the entablatures only of the orders are introduced. In Rushton Hall (1595) the cresting of the bow windows shows the evil influence of Vredeman de Vries’s pattern-book and of numerous designs by him and other Belgian artists, which were printed at the Plantin press. Two other publications of a similar rococo type were brought out in Germany, one by Cammermayer (1564) and the other by Dietterlin (1594), both at Nuremberg; neither of them would seem to have been much known in England, but indirectly through German craftsmen they may have influenced some of the work of the Jacobean period, and more particularly the chimney pieces and the ceilingsof the gallery and other important rooms in which strap-work is found. Among the finer examples of ceilings of early date are those of Knole, Kent; Haddon Hall, Derbyshire; Sizergh Hall, Westmorland; South Wraxall Manor House, Wiltshire; the Red Lodge, Bristol; Chastleton House; and Canons Ashby—in the last three with pendants. Two of the best-designed ceilings of modest dimensions are those of the Reindeer Inn at Banbury and the Star Inn at Great Yarmouth. The principal decorative feature of the reception rooms was the chimney-piece, rising from floor to ceiling, in early examples being very simple—as those at Broughton House and Lacock Abbey—but at a later date overlaid with rococo strap-work ornament and misshapen figures, as at South Wraxall and Castle Ashby. One of the most beautiful chimney-pieces is in the ballroom at Knole, probably of Flemish design, but at Cobham Hall, Hardwick, Hatfield and Bolsover Castle are fine examples in which different-coloured marbles are employed, there being a remarkable series at the last-named place.The long gallery has already been incidentally mentioned. Its origin has never been clearly explained; it was generally situated in an upper storey, and may have been for exercise, like the eaves galleries in Spain. The dimensions were sometimes remarkable; one at Ampthill (no longer existing) was 245 ft. long; and a second at Audley End, 220 ft. long and 34 ft. wide. Of moderate length, the best known are those of Haddon Hall, with rich wainscotting carried up to the ceiling, Hardwick, Knole, Longleat, Blickling Hall and Sutton Place, Surrey.In early work the staircases were occasionally in stone with circular or rectangular newels, but the more general type was that known as the open well staircase, with balustrade and newels in timber. Of these the more remarkable examples are those at Hatfield; Benthall Hall, Shropshire; Sydenham House, Devonshire; Charterhouse, London; Ockwells Manor House, Berkshire; Blickling, Norfolk; and the Old Star Inn at Lewes, Sussex.One of the important features in the old halls was the screen separating the hall from the passage, over the latter being a gallery; the front of the screen facing the hall was considered to be its chief decoration, and was accordingly enriched with columns of the Classic orders, and balustrade or cresting over. The screens of Charterhouse (London), Trinity College (Cambridge), Wadham College (Oxford), and the Middle Temple Hall (London), are remarkable for their design and execution. The great hammer-beam roof (1562-1572) in the last named is the finest example of the Renaissance in existence (seeRoofs, Plate I., fig. 25).With the exception of chantry or other chapels added to existing buildings, there was only one church built in the period we are now describing, St John’s at Leeds. This church is divided down the centre by an arcade of pointed arches, virtually constituting a double nave, and the rood-screen is carried through both. The window tracery and the arcade show how the master-mason adhered to the traditional Gothic style, but the rood-screen, notwithstanding its rococo decoration, is a fine Jacobean work, eclipsed only by the magnificent example at Croscombe, which, with the pulpit and other church accessories, dating from 1616, constitutes the most complete example of that period.
The most important of these features were the following:—the bow window, rectangular or polygonal, of which the earliest examples date from the reign of Edward IV. (1461-1483), such as Eltham Palace in Kent, Cowdray Castle in Sussex, and Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, and at a later period at Hampton Court; octagonal towers or turrets flanking the entrance gateway at each end of the main front; the projecting forward of the side wings so as to get better light to the rooms in them by having windows on both sides, such projections varying the otherwise monotonous effect of a uniform façade without breaks; the long gallery (generally on an upper floor), which was an important characteristic of the Elizabethan house; and last but not least, the adherence to the type of old Tudor window, with its moulded mullions and transoms but with square head.
One of the first modifications was the introduction of semicircular bow windows, as in Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, followed by a second example at Burton Agnes in Yorkshire (1602-1610), and a third at Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire (1635). They were carried up through three storeys at Kirby Hall, the upper storey in the roof; three storeys at Burton Agnes with balcony and balustrade; and two storeys at Lilford Hall—these features being extremely simple but fine in effect, and the windows with moulded mullions and transoms lending themselves naturally to the curve.
The projecting bays and bow windows seemed to have such an attraction for the builders of these country mansions that at Burton Agnes (with a rectangular plan of 120 ft. by 80 ft.) there are no fewer than thirteen of them, which break up the wall surface and give a picturesque group externally, whilst internally they add to the fine effect of the rooms. At Barlborough Hall, Derbyshire, with a frontage of 80 ft., there is a central rectangular bay forming the entrance porch and carried up above the roof, and two large octagonal bow windows which rise as towers with an extra storey. In all these mansions the only influence which the Revival seems to have exerted was in the introduction of an entablature, which sometimes takes the place of the Gothic string course, balustrades which crown the building, but with no projecting cornice, and gables with curved outlines and Renaissance panels or scrolls. The fact is that, with prominent features so widely differing from those which were represented on the perspective drawings attached to the earlier publications of the five orders, such as those of Serlio (1537) and Vredeman de Vries of Antwerp (1577), the only course left open to the master-mason was to decorate the principal entrance with columns and pilasters of the Classic orders, sometimes superposed one upon the other.
To the further development of this singular introduction of the Classic orders we shall return; for the moment it will be better to follow a chronological sequence and take up the principal examples of the country mansion, some of which were from the first intended to be Classic buildings. Of the house built at Gorhambury in Hertfordshire (1563) for Sir Nicholas Bacon, the father of Lord Bacon, too little remains to render its design intelligible, except that it still retains in its lofty window the Tudor pointed arch; but in Longleat in Wiltshire, built by Sir John Thynne (1567-1580), we have a typical example, the design of which departs from the English type, though it would seem to have been carried out according to the traditional custom of entrusting the whole work to a master-mason, and furnishing him with sketch designs of some kind suggesting the required arrangements of the plan, the principal features of the exterior elevation and the internal disposition. This custom was adhered to far into the 18th century at Oxford and Cambridge, where the alterations and additions to some of the colleges, such as the chapel of Clare College, Cambridge (1763), were carried out by master-masons or builders who were supplied with sketch designs and sometimes even the materials for the buildings they had to carry out, notwithstanding the existence of properly trained architects, who from the first half of the 17th century were usually entrusted with the preparation of the necessary designs for new structures of any considerable importance.
The name of the designer of Longleat is not known; the master-mason was Robert Smithson, who in 1580 went to Wollaton in Nottinghamshire and constructed the mansion there. Longleat is so Italian in style that it must have been conceived by some one who had been in Italy, because it departs from the usual English type. The plan is rectangular, with a frontage of 220 ft. by 180 ft. deep, an entrance porch in the centre, with two projecting bays on each side carried up through the three storeys, and three similar bays on the flanks. The whole block is crowned with a parapet, the centre portion of which is pierced with a balustrade, but the main cornice bears no resemblance to the Italian feature, being only that of the entablature of the upper order. The projecting bays are decorated with pilasters of the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders, each with its proper entablature. These classic features would seem to have been copied from a work by John Shute, painter and architect, who had been sent to Italy by the duke of Northumberland in 1551, and in 1563 brought out hisChief Groundes of Architecture, the first practical work published in English on architecture. Shute died in the same year, but two other editions appeared in 1579 and 1584, which shows that it must have had an extensive circulation and probably exercised the greatest influence on English architecture. A second book on the orders, already referred to as published in 1577 by Jan Vredeman de Vries of Antwerp, was not of the same type, for instead of confining his work, like Shute and Serlio, to a simple representation of the Classic orders, he introduced, on the shafts of his columns and on the pedestals, designs of the most debased rococo type, with additional plates suggesting their application to various buildings. Robert Smithson, or his client Sir Fr. Willoughby, apparently obtained a copy of this book, and the result is seen (Plate VI., fig. 76) in the mansion built at Wollaton (1580-1588), in which we find the first examples of elaborately decorated pedestals; crestings on the angle towers, the design of which is known as strap-work; and medallions with busts in them, enclosed with twisted curves similar to those which flowers and leaves take when thrown into the fire. The plan and the scheme of the design of Wollaton is, however, so far superior to the usual type, that it may fairly be ascribed to John Thorpe, an architect or surveyor, of whose drawings there is a large collection in the Soane Museum, representing many of the more important mansions of the Elizabethan era; some of his own design, others either plans measured from existing buildings upon which he was called in to report or copies from other sources, and some reproduced from published works such as Vredeman de Vries’s pattern book and Androuet du Cerceau’sDes plus excellents bastiments de France(1576).
To John Thorpe is also attributed the design of Kirby Hall (1570-1572) in Northamptonshire, in which the plan of the feudal castle with great central court is still retained. This court is symmetrically designed, and was evidently considered to be the principal feature, the decoration being far richer than that of the exterior of the building.
Amongst other important mansions are Moreton Old Hall (1550-1559, partly rebuilt in 1602; seeHouse, Plate III., fig. 11) in Cheshire, a fine house in half-timber; Knole House, Kent (1570), possibly also designed by John Thorpe; Charlecote Hall (1572) near Stratford-on-Avon; Burleigh House, Northamptonshire (1575), the most remarkable feature in which is the great tower in the courtyard, decorated with the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders superposed, the design apparently suggested by a similar feature in the château of Anet, France (published in du Cerceau); Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire (1580); Montacute House, Somersetshire (1580-1600); Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire (1583-1589); Brereton Hall, Cheshire (1575-1586), in brick and stone; Westwood Park, Worcestershire (1590); Wakehurst Place, Sussex (1590); Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (1590-1597); Longford Castle, Wiltshire (1591-1612); Cobham Hall, Kent (1594); Dorton House, Buckinghamshire (1596); Speke Hall, Lancashire (1598), partly in half-timber work; Holland House, Kensington (1606; wings and arcades, 1624); Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire (1607-1613); Charlton House, Kent (1607); Bramshill, Hampshire (1607-1612), an interesting example of Jacobean architecture; Hatfield, Hertfordshire (1608-1611), with an extremely fine courtyard (north side in brick and stone, 1621); Audley End, Essex (1610-1616), a great portion of which was afterwards pulled down; Ham House, Surrey (1610), chiefly in brick; Pinkie House, at Musselburgh in Midlothian (1613); Aston Hall near Birmingham (1618-1635); Blickling Hall, Norfolk (1619); Heriot’s hospital, Edinburgh (1628-1659); and Lanhydroc, Cornwall (1636-1641), which brings us down to the period of the pure Italian Revival introduced by Inigo Jones.
We have already referred to the reproduction of the Classic orders, superposed as an enrichment of the principal entrance doorways. In addition to Burton Agnes and Burleigh House, there are endless examples in mansions and country houses, but the most remarkable are those at Oxford: in the old Schools, where coupled columns flank the entrance gateway with the five orders superposed, and in Merton and Wadham Colleges, with four orders (the Tuscan being omitted), in neither case taking any cognizance of the levels of windows or string courses of the earlier building to which they were applied, or serving any structural purpose. The orders were all taken from one of the pattern books, and in the Schools and in Merton College the rococo ornament and strap-work found in Vredeman de Vries’s work were copied with more or less fidelity to the original. There are, however, two or three buildings in Northamptonshire which are free from rococo work, and in their design form a pleasant contrast, as much to the elaboration of the buildings just described as to the cold formality of the works of the later Italian style. Lyveden new buildings (1577), the Triangular Lodge at Rushton, and the Market House at Rothwell, are all examples in which the orders from Serlio or John Shute are faithfully represented, and are of a refined character; in the first named the entablatures only of the orders are introduced. In Rushton Hall (1595) the cresting of the bow windows shows the evil influence of Vredeman de Vries’s pattern-book and of numerous designs by him and other Belgian artists, which were printed at the Plantin press. Two other publications of a similar rococo type were brought out in Germany, one by Cammermayer (1564) and the other by Dietterlin (1594), both at Nuremberg; neither of them would seem to have been much known in England, but indirectly through German craftsmen they may have influenced some of the work of the Jacobean period, and more particularly the chimney pieces and the ceilingsof the gallery and other important rooms in which strap-work is found. Among the finer examples of ceilings of early date are those of Knole, Kent; Haddon Hall, Derbyshire; Sizergh Hall, Westmorland; South Wraxall Manor House, Wiltshire; the Red Lodge, Bristol; Chastleton House; and Canons Ashby—in the last three with pendants. Two of the best-designed ceilings of modest dimensions are those of the Reindeer Inn at Banbury and the Star Inn at Great Yarmouth. The principal decorative feature of the reception rooms was the chimney-piece, rising from floor to ceiling, in early examples being very simple—as those at Broughton House and Lacock Abbey—but at a later date overlaid with rococo strap-work ornament and misshapen figures, as at South Wraxall and Castle Ashby. One of the most beautiful chimney-pieces is in the ballroom at Knole, probably of Flemish design, but at Cobham Hall, Hardwick, Hatfield and Bolsover Castle are fine examples in which different-coloured marbles are employed, there being a remarkable series at the last-named place.
The long gallery has already been incidentally mentioned. Its origin has never been clearly explained; it was generally situated in an upper storey, and may have been for exercise, like the eaves galleries in Spain. The dimensions were sometimes remarkable; one at Ampthill (no longer existing) was 245 ft. long; and a second at Audley End, 220 ft. long and 34 ft. wide. Of moderate length, the best known are those of Haddon Hall, with rich wainscotting carried up to the ceiling, Hardwick, Knole, Longleat, Blickling Hall and Sutton Place, Surrey.
In early work the staircases were occasionally in stone with circular or rectangular newels, but the more general type was that known as the open well staircase, with balustrade and newels in timber. Of these the more remarkable examples are those at Hatfield; Benthall Hall, Shropshire; Sydenham House, Devonshire; Charterhouse, London; Ockwells Manor House, Berkshire; Blickling, Norfolk; and the Old Star Inn at Lewes, Sussex.
One of the important features in the old halls was the screen separating the hall from the passage, over the latter being a gallery; the front of the screen facing the hall was considered to be its chief decoration, and was accordingly enriched with columns of the Classic orders, and balustrade or cresting over. The screens of Charterhouse (London), Trinity College (Cambridge), Wadham College (Oxford), and the Middle Temple Hall (London), are remarkable for their design and execution. The great hammer-beam roof (1562-1572) in the last named is the finest example of the Renaissance in existence (seeRoofs, Plate I., fig. 25).
With the exception of chantry or other chapels added to existing buildings, there was only one church built in the period we are now describing, St John’s at Leeds. This church is divided down the centre by an arcade of pointed arches, virtually constituting a double nave, and the rood-screen is carried through both. The window tracery and the arcade show how the master-mason adhered to the traditional Gothic style, but the rood-screen, notwithstanding its rococo decoration, is a fine Jacobean work, eclipsed only by the magnificent example at Croscombe, which, with the pulpit and other church accessories, dating from 1616, constitutes the most complete example of that period.
The pure Italian style, as it is sometimes called, was introduced into France probably by Serlio, and the result of its first influence is shown in the Louvre, begun in 1546. It entered Spain about 20 years later, under the rule of Philip II., and Germany about the same time, creating aboutInigo Jones.100 years later a reaction in Spain in favour of a less cold and formal style, and scarcely taking any root in Germany. In England its first appearance does not take place till 1619, when Inigo Jones, after his second visit to Rome, designed an immense palace, measuring 1150 ft. by 900 ft., of which the only portion built was the Banqueting House in Whitehall (Plate VI., fig. 75); a fine design, in which the emphasizing of the central portion by columns in place of pilasters is an original treatment not found in Italy, but of excellent effect. Unfortunately many subsequent designs of Inigo Jones were either not carried out or have since been destroyed; but nothing approached this admirable work in Whitehall.