Chapter XX: Act 1898: the official principal of the archbishop is required to (9)

Before passing to the Louvre and Tuileries, representing the third
period, we must refer to some other important early chateaux and
buildings. Some of these, such as the chateaux 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 still
_in situ_; there are some portions in the court of the Ecole 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 hotel 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
hotel 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 chateau 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 chateau was not 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 chateau 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 chateau 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 hotel de ville of Paray-le-Monial (1526); the Hotel
d'Anjou at Angers (1530), built by Pierre de Pince; the Hotel Bernuy
at Toulouse (1530); the Hotel d'Ecoville at Caen (1532); the Manoir of
Francis I. at Orleans; the Hotel Bourgtheroulde at Rouen (1520-1532)
and other buildings opposite Rouen cathedral, and what remains of the
chateau known as the Manoir d'Ango (1525) at Varengeville, near
Dieppe. The chateau 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 hotel 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 Doree 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 the _cheneau_, 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 the _chef-d'oeuvres_ of 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 Ecole 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
chateau of Chenonceaux.

Amongst other work of this period are the additions made by Bullant to
the chateau 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 Ecouen (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
Hotel d'Assezat 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,
Perigueux, 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 Hotel Lamoignon in the rue des
Francs-Bourgeois, Paris (1580), and the Hotel de Vogue 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 the east
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 facade, 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
facades, 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 Hotel de Toulouse (1626), now the Bank of France; the
Hotel de Sully (1630), by du Cerceau; the Hotel de Beauvais (1654), by
le Pautre; the Hotel Lambert (also by le Pautre), in the Ile St Louis;
the chateau at Maisons, near St Germain-en-Laye, by Francois 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 Hotel des Invalides (1670), by Bruant; the Place des
Victoires and the Place Vendome (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 chateau 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 Hotel
Soubise (1706), now the "Archives Nationales"; the fountain in the rue
de Crenelle, a fine composition; the Ecole Militaire (1752), by
Gabriel; the Ecole de Medecine (1769), by Gondouin; the mint (1772),
by Antoine; the Place de la Concorde, with the Garde-Meuble, by
Gabriel (1765); the Hotel 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 Odeon, 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 Vetheuil (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 Tillieres; 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 Etienne-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 Francois 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 Genevieve, better known as the Pantheon
(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 is no 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 huge _cornicione_ which 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 chateau 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, Jose 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 Siloe, 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 the _reja_ or wrought-iron screen partly gilt, forged in
1522 by Maestre Bartholome. The _sagrario_ or 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 magnificent _rejas_ or 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 Munoz
(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 church with 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 facade 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 Alcala de Henares (formerly the seat of the university), built in
1557-1584 by Rodrigo Gil de Ontanon.

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 Riano 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 facade 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 Alcala 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 features were 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
facade 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 his _Chief
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's _Des 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.