THE STYLES OF HENRY IV. AND LOUIS XIII. 2 1/ 



at fiivjict '<$ Lt.inqiu'-vfllt' C'y dfttrtnt ric 



216. PARIS : HOTEL DE LONGUEVILLE, OR D'EPERNON, RUE ST THOMAS 

 DU LOUVRE (c. 1615). Now DESTROYED. FROM MAROT. 



object. The former gained culture and the latter urbanity by mutual 

 contact. She devoted much care to making her house a suitable place 

 for these reunions, and the Hotel de Rambouillet as transformed by 

 her (1615-18) became a model for all who aimed at refinement and 

 comfort rather than mere grandeur, and at providing elegant, well-lit 

 apartments of moderate size, suited to intimate intercourse, as well as 

 suites adapted only for large receptions. These suites were approached 

 from an entrance-hall (vestibule], a new feature, and were no longer 

 cut in two by the draughty splendour of the grand staircase. This was 

 removed, and, a distinction being now often made between private and 

 reception rooms, could take its place on one side of the court between 

 the state and private wings, and be balanced on the other by a secondary 

 stair between the state and service wings. The great bed-chamber 

 (chambre de parade) was the culminating point of the principal suite, 

 it being the fashion for great ladies to receive while reclining on their 

 beds. This custom led to the popularity of the " alcove," which as 

 then understood meant, not, as now, a cupboard-like recess little larger 

 than the bed itself, but a portion screened from the rest of the room by 

 balustrades, columns, and curtains, and always hung with stuffs, what- 

 ever the surrounding decoration might be, forming a cosy sanctum 

 round the bed within the great state chamber, the spaces on each side 

 of the bed being termed "ruelles." The remainder of the suites 

 consisted in a multiplication of the closet (cabinet), which always 

 accompanied the chamber, and in the greater houses generally com- 

 prised a long gallery. Though the terms antechamber, back-closet, 

 summer and winter closet occur, there was as yet little specialisation 



