THE STYLE OF LOU is xiv. 287 



(1655) by Jacques Bruand, rebuilt in the second court of the Musee 

 Carnavalet (Fig. 271), is a very rich composition in which the orders 

 combine with sculptural enrichments to make a piece of characteristic 

 decoration. The Hotel de Ville of Beaucaire may be mentioned as 

 another pleasing example of buildings of this character. 



CHATEAUX. There is a surprising family likeness between the 

 country houses of this period. The principal point in which they 

 differ from each other is in the treatment of the centre of the mansion. 

 The simplest and most traditional form was not to break the main 

 block by any important central feature ; and this is what is found 

 in the chateau of Fayelle by Jacques Bruand, and that of Chaville 

 by Chamois, the residence of Chancellor le Tellier, father of Louvois 

 (finished 1660). Frangois Mansart, though he never seems to have 

 adopted the new fashion of a central saloon, liked a central pavilion 

 generally of such importance as to occupy more than a third of the 

 main block and exceed in height the end features, which he treated 

 as short return wings telling as a single elongated pavilion in the side 

 elevation. This is the arrangement both at Bernis and Maisons, 

 the former one of his simplest, the latter one of his most elaborate 

 designs. 



CHATEAU DE MAISONS. The chateau of Maisons (Fig. 273) was 

 built (1642-51) for Rene de Longueil, a finance minister under Richelieu 

 and Mazarin. Its pedigree is easily traceable to Coulommier and 

 the Luxembourg, and if it be compared with the Orleans wing 

 at Blois, the boundary line which divides the styles of Louis XIII. 

 and Louis XIV. will be appreciated. Though much more refined as 

 regards detail and ornament, Maisons yet somehow fails to make quite 

 the same overwhelming impression. There is less concentration, and 

 unity is a little sacrificed to the perfection of the parts. Yet shorn as 

 it is of many of its adjuncts the lodges and princely stables which 

 surrounded its forecourt, the terraces and stairs which led up from the 

 river, its gardens and the open air baths designed by J. Marot this 

 noble pile of creamy stone and silvery slate, towering up on a gentle 

 eminence, is one of the noblest monuments of its century. Each of 

 the three blocks of which the building consists has its separate roof, 

 and importance is given to the central pavilion by a finely designed 

 pedimented attic carried up at back and front more than half its width. 

 The lofty pyramidal mass, thus formed, is balanced in the wings by 

 various devices. Towards the river (Fig. 260) they have an important 

 dormer above and a columnar portico below. Towards the court 

 (Fig. 272) the upper storey is emphasised by a pediment over an arched 

 recess, and the lower by a projecting porch, planned elliptical internally, 

 and with a curved recess on the outer face. The same general system 

 of coupled pilasters is used at Maisons as in its predecessors, but there 



