1 8 



14. CASTLE OF BLOIS Louis XII. WING : 

 Larger Stair Tower in Court. 



From a Drawing by Louis Ambler. 



FRANCE. 



cessive demolitions 

 and alterations, that 

 it isdifficult to recog- 

 nise to-day the work 

 of "several excel- 

 lent craftsmen in 

 several crafts," 

 whom Charles had 

 brought from 

 Naples. Among the 

 undoubted remains 

 of this period the 

 chapel of St Hubert 

 is entirely Gothic, 

 while the two mighty 

 round towers show 

 traces of Italian influ- 

 ence in their round- 

 headed windows, 

 and in their sloping 

 ways for horse traffic 

 leading to the castle 

 from the town be- 

 low, carried spirally 

 round a hollow newel 

 25 feet in diameter, 

 circular inside but 

 octagonal outside. 

 A pleasaunce, sur- 

 rounded by a colon- 

 naded cloister, was 

 laid out within the /- 

 ceintebyDom Pacello 

 da Mercoliano in 

 the succeeding reign 

 (1498-1505), at the 

 same time as similar 

 but more extensive 

 gardens by the same 

 artist at Blois whose 

 central feature was 

 a trellis pavilion by 

 Boccadoro. 



