THE STYLE OF LOUIS XII. 



3' 



27. CASTLE OP" BLOIS : CHIMNEY-PIECE IN Louis XII. WING. 



This arrangement, which gives an impression of top-heaviness and 

 inadequate support, had its origin in the fact that the earliest hoods were 

 of wattle and plaster or some such light material. The rope with 

 which they were tied back to the wall sometimes survives in the form 

 of a cable moulding. All these features underwent no radical change 

 at the Renaissance, but began to show the sporadic introduction of 

 Italian detail. 



GARDENS. Gardens in the Middle Ages, though small, were often 

 laid out in a formal manner, and subdivided by walls and trellises. 

 But while the charm of trees, flowers, and fountains was keenly 

 appreciated, decorative amenities were less the object in view than 

 material purposes fruit, vegetables, and medicinal herbs from the 

 garden ; fish from the pond ; birds from the aviary. Some castles had 



