RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE. 



247. DESIGN FOR CHIMNEY-PIECE BY J. BARBET. 



Freminet (1567- 

 1619) the tendency 

 to heaviness of 

 handling and over 

 emphatic ornament 

 is more pronounced 

 (Fig. 244). 



THE BAROCCO 

 MANNER.- This 

 manner eventually 

 became dominant 

 under the masterful 

 influence of Rubens. 

 Its chief charac- 

 teristic is the im- 

 portance of the 

 " cartouche " motive, 

 which had undergone 

 a change both in its 

 application and 

 structure since the 

 days of Francis I. 

 From its primary 

 function as the frame 

 of a shield or tablet 

 it now furnished the 

 decoration of almost 

 every architectural 

 feature from a pedi- 

 ment to a pier, or 



even took the place of a corbel or pilaster. Further, from the con- 

 sistency of stiff, sharply slashed strap-work, it acquires that of pliant 

 hide or clay, bossed and coiled, when soft, into strange forms, recalling 

 bats' wings or dogs' ears. Sometimes the mantlings round a shield 

 have a series of swellings like the vertebrae of a spine, or the segments 

 of a gigantic caterpillar. The shields themselves are of a bulging ovoid 

 form. In association are found grotesque masks, chubby cherubs, and 

 ponderous draperies ; massive and serried swags composed of fruits, and 

 small asters and marigolds ; curly palm branches and volutes ; broken 

 and contorted pediments ; a multiplication of frames one within the other, 

 repeatedly broken and intricately connected by scrolls and flourishes ; 

 bold and rather coarse mouldings with prevalently convex sections. 

 The merits and demerits of this decorative style may be especially 

 judged in doors and chimney-pieces. The former are often splendid 



