THE STYLE OF HENRY II. 



193 



CHURCH ARCHITECTURE OF PURE ADVANCED 

 RENAISSANCE. 



The second current of design that in which the composition as 

 a whole is conceived on classical lines, while the detail follows the 

 contemporary fashion appears first in important features, then in 

 complete fagades added to existing buildings, and finally in a few cases 

 in entire structures. 



DOORWAYS. 

 Doorways long main- 

 tained their import- 

 ance as a decorative 

 element in elevations. 

 At the same time the 

 tendency to em- 

 phasise the framework 

 surrounding the open- 

 ing rather than to 

 enrich the opening 

 itself survived. There 

 was thus, especially 

 in the case of new 

 insertions, full scope 

 for complete classical 

 design. This is well 

 illustrated in the 

 series of portals due 

 to the school of 

 Domenico Fiorentino 

 in and around Troyes. 

 Classical composi- 

 tions retaining the 

 playful decoration of 

 the Francis I. style 



NICOLAS. SOUTH DOORWAY. 



may be seen in simple jgg 

 form in the north door 



of St Nizier, and on a more elaborate scale at St Andre (1549) (Fig. 

 105), but a fully developed Henry II. style characterises the west door- 

 way of St Nizier and the south doorway of St Nicolas (c. 1555) (Fig. 

 1 88). This last is a composition in two orders of shallow pilasters 

 to which restraint of treatment, a sureness of proportion, a refinement 

 in the profiles, and a decoration of varied and delicate frets impart 

 an air of rare distinction. The south portal of St Nicolas des Champs 

 in Paris (1581) in bolder, less reticent forms shows that amid increasing 



