144 



RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE. 



sures, covered by elliptical barrel vaults, almost double the floor 

 area (Fig. 137). That it was originally the intention of Le Breton, 

 or whoever designed it, to cover the central space with a vault is 

 evident from the elliptical tympana on the end walls, the corbels 

 on the piers and the great thickness of the abutments. Such an 

 arrangement seems admirably adapted for the reception of fresco 

 decoration. But some " person in authority " it is uncertain who 

 decided otherwise, and a coffered plaster ceiling was put up, which, on 

 de 1'Orme's accession to power, was already in a dangerous condition, 

 owing, it may be conjectured, to dry rot in the timbers, for it was only 

 a few years old. He substituted the present wooden ceiling, heavily 

 coffered in octagons, and put up the high dado round the walls with a 



wooden gallery above it 

 at one end, and a monu- 

 mental stone chimney- 

 piece, the whole height 

 of the room, at the other. 

 The Doric columns are 

 a modern substitute for 

 a pair of bronze satyrs 

 which originally carried 

 the overmantel. All 

 the above features are 

 richly and delicately 

 carved. The upper 

 part of the walls and the 

 vaults over the embra- 

 sures were decorated in 

 fresco from the designs 

 of Primaticcio, princi- 

 pally by Niccolo dell' 



Abate. These paintings were villainously restored under Louis 

 Philippe. Fine as are the proportions and detail of this hall, there is a 

 certain lack of relation between its parts which reacts unfavourably on 

 its total effect. 



DE L'ORME AT ST GERMAIN. Outside Fontainebleau de 1'Orme was 

 active at most of the royal residences. At St Germain he built a chapel 

 in the forest, and prepared schemes for terraced gardens leading down 

 to the river in connection with a new annexe to the chateau on the edge 

 of the plateau, but these works were little moie than begun in his time. 

 The new building or Chateau Neuf (Fig. 138), which resembled an 

 Italian villa in having but one storey, had a square court with a recessed 

 hemicycle on each face intended for spectacular displays. 



ANET. In addition to the royal works, de 1'Orme had at this time 



10 o 



IB <: ....1 



20 30 40 



10 20 40 60 80 IOO 



50 



138. ST GERMAIN-EN-LAYE : CHATEAU NEUF, 

 BY PH. DE L'ORME. PLAN. 



From Du Cerceau. 



