RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE. 



round towers at the 

 four outer angles, 

 the two forward ones 

 of which were never 

 completed, and of 

 the donjon, a square 

 block also flanked 

 with four round 

 towers. Each angle 

 of this block with its 

 tower forms a sepa- 

 rate suite, while the 

 space intervening 

 between them con- 

 stitutes a hall of 

 Greek cross plan 

 with an opening at 

 the end of each arm. 

 This arrangement is 

 repeated on each 

 storey, and on the 

 third the arms of 

 the cruciform hall 

 are ceiled with a 

 coffered stone barrel 

 vault of elliptical 

 form (Fig. 54). In 

 the intersection, but 

 not filling it entirely, 

 is the celebrated 

 spiral staircase, cir- 

 cular on plan and 



consisting of two stairways, which start from opposite sides and ascend 

 in the same direction round a hollow circular newel. They are en- 

 closed in a pierced stone shell decorated with orders of pilasters 

 ranging with the storeys. 



Elevations. The treatment of the elevations is uniform throughout 

 (Fig. 39). The wall surface is divided into compartments by pilasters 

 and their entablatures, an order to each storey. These are all of a 

 Corinthian type, but each capital is of a different pattern, while the 

 entablatures are little more than strings. The uniformity is, however, 

 broken by an unsymmetrical arrangement of openings. 



Roof. The most striking feature of the design is the treatment 

 of the roofs which combines the French tradition with the terrace 



.B 



54. CUAMBORD : CENTRAL STAIRCASE. 



