RENAISSANCE, the name given to the style of art, especially architecture, in Europe, which succeeded the Gothic, and preceded the rigid copyism of the classic revival in the first half of the present century. Under the heading ITALIAN :ilICIIITECTITItli we have 'traced the rise and progress of the renaissance in the country of its birth. The spread of classical literature during the 15th and 16th c. created a taste for classic architecture in every country in Europe. France, from her proximity and constant intercourse with Italy, was the first to introduce the new style n. of the Alps. Francis I. invited Italian artists to his court during the first half of the 16th century. The most distinguished of these were Leonardo da Vinci, Benvenuto Cellini, Primatiecio, and Serlio. These artists introduced Italian details, and native architects applied them to the old forms to which they were accustomed, and which suited the purposes of their buildings, and thus origi nated a style similar to, though diverse from, that of Italy.
The Italian buildings were chiefly churches, St. Peter's being the great model. In France (as in the other countries D. of the Alps) the stock of churches was more than Was required. The grand domestic buildings of Florence and Rome were actually needed for defense, and were founded in design on the old medheval castles which the nobles occupied within the cities. The domestic architecture of France is rather taken from the luxurious residences of the monks, and although very graceful in outline and in detail, its buildings want the force and grandeur of the Italian palaces.
i In the French renaissance, so much are the old Gothic forms and outline preserved, that the buildings of Francis I. might, at a short distance, be mistaken for Gothic designs, although, on nearer approach, all the details are found to be imitated from the classic. Such are the palaces, of Chambord and Chenonceaux on the Loire, Fontainebleau, and many others. The churches of this period are the same in their principles of design. Gothic forms and construction are everywhere preserved, while the detail is as near classic as the designers could make it. St. Eustache, iu Paris, is one of the finest exam
ples of this transitional style.
From the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th c. a style prevailed which may be said to have combined all the defects of the renaissance. It was neither classic nor Gothic. It had no principles of construction or decoration save the individual caprice of the designer. This style, usually known as that of the time of Henry IV., is the basest which has been adopted in France, and has no redeeming qualities. It may be distin guished by the constant use of meaningless pilasters. broken entablatures, curved and contorted cornices, architraves, etc., all applied so as to conceal rather than to mark and dignify the real uses of the features of the buildings. The Tuileries, wrecked by the comrnune,showed all these defects. From this debased and meaningless style architec ture gradually recovered, and during the 18th c. a style more becoming the dignity and importance of the grand nwnarque was introduced. The classic element now began to prevail, to the entire exclusion of all trace of the old Gothic forms. Many very large palaces are built in this style; but, although grand from their size, and striking from . their richness and luxuriance, they are frequently tame and uninteresting as works of art. The palace of Versailles (q.v.) is the most prominent example. The two Mansards, one of whom designed Versailles, had great opportunities during this extravagant epoch. Their invention of giving a row of separate houses the appearance of one palace, which has ever since sated architects a world of trouble, was one of the most fatal blows which true street-architecture could have received. The e. front of the Louvre, designed by Perrault, is one Of the best examples of the style of the age. Many elegant private hotels and houses in Paris were erected at this period. The most striking peculiarity of the style of Louis XIV. is the ornament then used, called rococo (q.v.).