THE STYLE OF THE EMPIRE. 467 



hands of new and untried men, of more or less capacity, and often of 

 bloodthirsty instincts. Under these auspices the era of reform was at 

 first accompanied by much bloodshed and disorganisation, and Europe 

 was plunged into a series of wars which covered the lifetime of a whole 

 generation. The task of bringing order out of chaos, and of turning a 

 new page in French history, which, under similar circumstances, two 

 centuries earlier had been carried out by Henry IV., now fell to the lot 

 of Napoleon Bonaparte. The military and political genius of the 

 Corsican general gave France the hegemony of Europe, and re- 

 organised her institutions on a basis which in essentials has lasted to 

 the present day, and withstood the shock of repeated revolutions. 

 But once more, as under Louis XIV. a hundred years earlier, an 

 arrogant and aggressive policy was answered by a combined effort of 

 the European powers. On Napoleon's overthrow the late King's 

 brother was placed on the throne as a constitutional sovereign. But 

 the Bourbons and the aristocracy "had learnt nothing and forgotten 

 nothing " in exile and misfortune. They hoped to revive the Ancien 

 Regime, and after the astute and comparatively moderate Louis XVIII. 

 (1814-24) had been succeeded by his more narrow-minded brother, the 

 bigoted Charles X. (1824-30), attempts were made to restore absolute 

 monarchy. Their only result was to bring about the Revolution of 

 July, the King's abdication, and the accession, in the person of Louis 

 Philippe, of a younger branch of the Bourbons with more liberal 

 tendencies. 



STYLISTIC EVOLUTION. The years 1789-94, during which events 

 marched so rapidly and so tragically, were too full of perils and 

 uncertainty to be propitious to building ; but with the return of com- 

 paratively settled times the style of Louis XVI. re-emerged in a modified 

 form, taking the name successively of the Directory, the Consulate, and 

 the Empire, but continuing unchanged in its principal characteristics. 

 The name Style Messidor is also sometimes given to the work of the 

 decade 1790-1800, which constitutes a transition from the Louis XVI. 

 to the full Empire style. Since, however, Napoleon was the dominant 

 figure of the age, and since the Neo-Classic style culminated when 

 he was at the zenith of his power, the designation "Empire" may 

 appropriately be applied to the whole period, including the Restoration 

 (1815-30), during which Neo-Classicism was in decline. 



An upheaval so colossal as the French Revolution could hardly be 

 unattended by changes in the domain of art. To a superficial view the 

 immediate effects on architecture rnay appear strangely slight. But 

 though the styles of Louis XVI. and of the Empire have obvious 

 points of contact, they were inspired by different ideals. Till the 

 Revolution the majority of architects had remained more or less 

 under the influence of a national tradition built up on the Vitruvian 



