THE STYLE OF HENRY II. 



123 



124.' ANCY-LE-FRANC : BALCONY OVER ENTRANCE DOOR. 



SERLIO'S INFLUENCE AND WRITINGS. The importance of the 

 Italian colony cannot be entirely measured by the buildings erected 

 by them. The style of decoration, which they introduced, forms the 

 starting point to which all the subsequent styles are ultimately traceable. 

 The change for the better which marks the building at Fontainebleau in 

 the later years of Francis the chapel of St Saturnin, the Ballroom, the 

 Peristyle is attributable to their influence, if not to their authorship. 

 Further, the teaching of Serlio was perhaps a more potent force than 

 anything he might have built could have been. The fame of his writings 

 preceded him in France; Francis was probably induced to take him 

 into his service by his reputation as 

 an authority on the theoretical side 

 of his profession and on ancient 

 monuments ; and during his life in 

 France he published further instal- 

 ments of his magnum opus. The 

 moment of his arrival was that at 

 which French opinion was awaking 

 to the consciousness that the archi- 

 tecture, which had been in fashion 

 for a generation as representing 

 ancient methods, was merely Gothic 

 served up with Italian sauce, and 

 that something more radical was 

 needed to bring it into line with 

 the best work of the day. He 

 came with the reputation of being 



125. CHATEAU OF ANCY-LE- 

 FRANC : TLAN. 

 From a Drawing by Du Cerceau. 



