HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October. 
1910 
211 
tion. the rooms 
showed more har¬ 
mony in regard to 
the relation of 
open spaces and 
walls, and became 
a decoration in 
themselves, with 
the tapestries and 
hangings enhanc¬ 
ing their beauty of 
line. It was not 
until some time in 
the fifteenth cen¬ 
tury that the habit 
of traveling with 
all one's belongings 
ceased. 
The year 1000 
was looked for¬ 
ward to with ab¬ 
ject terror, for it 
was firmly believed 
by all that the 
world was then 
coming to an end. 
It cast a gloom 
over all the people 
and paralyzed all 
ambition. When, 
however, the fatal 
year was safely 
passed, there was 
a great religious 
thanksgiving and 
everyone joined in 
the praise of a 
merciful God. The 
semi-circular arch of the Romanesque style gave way to the 
pointed arch of the Gothic, and wonderful cathedrals slowly 
lifted their beautiful spires to the sky. The ideal was to build 
for the glory of God and not only for the eyes of man, so that 
exquisite carving was lavished upon all parts of the work. This 
deeply reverent feeling lasted through the best period of Gothic 
architecture, and while household furniture was at a standstill 
church furniture became more and more beautiful, for in the 
midst of the religious fervor nothing seemed too much to do 
for the Church. Slowly it died out, and a secular attitude crept 
into decoration. One finds grotesque carvings appearing on the 
choir stalls and other parts of churches and cathedrals and the 
standard of excellence was lowered. 
The chest, table, wooden arm-chair, bed and bench were as 
far as the imagination had gone in domestic furniture, and al¬ 
though we read of wonderful tapestries and leather hangings 
and clothes embroidered in gold and jewels, there was no com¬ 
fort in our sense of the word, and those brave knights and fair 
ladies had need to be strong to stand the hardships of life. 
Glitter and show was the ideal and it was many more years 
before the standard of comfort and refinement gained a firm 
foothold. 
Gothic architecture and decoration declined from the perfec¬ 
tion of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to the over¬ 
decorated, flamboyant Gothic of the fifteenth century, and it was 
in the latter period that the transition began between the Gothic 
and the Renaissance epochs. 
The Renaissance was at its height in Italy in the fifteenth 
century, and its influence began to make itself felt a little in 
France at that time. The transition is well shown by the 
Chateau de Gaillon, built by Cardinal d’ Amboise. Gothic and 
Renaissance decoration were placed side by side in panels and 
furniture, and we also find some pure Gothic decoration as late 
as the early part of the sixteenth century, but they were in 
parts of France where tradition changed slowly. Styles overlap 
in every transition period, so it is often difficult to place the 
exact date on a piece of furniture; but the old dies out at last 
and gives way to the new. 
With the accession of Frances I the Renaissance came into 
its own in France. The word Renaissance means simply revival 
and it is not correctly used when we mean a distinct style led or 
inspired by one person. It was a great epoch, with individuality 
as its leading spirit, lead by the inspiration of the Italian artists 
brought from Italy and moulded by the genius of France. This 
renewal of classic feeling came when France was ready for the 
change, for the true spirit of the great Gothic period had died. 
The Renaissance movements in Italy, France, England and Ger¬ 
many all drew their inspiration from the same source, but in 
each case the national characteristics entered into the treatment. 
The Italians and Germans both used the grotesque a great deal, 
but the Germans used it in a coarser and heavier way than the 
Italians, who used it esthetically. The French used more espe¬ 
cially conventional and beautiful floral forms, and the inborn 
French sense of the fitness of things gave the treatment a won¬ 
derful charm and beauty. If one studies the French chateaux 
one will feel the true beauty and spirit of the times—Blois with 
its history of many centuries, and then some of the purely Renais¬ 
sance chateaux, like Chambord. Although great numbers of 
Italian artists came to France, one must not think they did all 
the beautiful work of the time. The French learned quickly 
and adapted what they learned to their own needs, so that the 
delicate and graceful decorations brought from Italy became 
more and more individualized until in the reign of Henry II 
the Renaissance reached its high-water mark. 
The furniture of the time did not show much change or 
become more varied or comfortable. The style of the decora¬ 
tive motive changed, but it is chiefly in architecture and the 
decorative treatment of it that one sees the true spirit of the 
Renaissance. Two 
men who had great 
influence on the 
style of furniture 
of the time were 
Androuet du Cer- 
ceau and ITugues 
Sambin. They pub¬ 
lished books of 
plates that were 
eagerly copied in 
all parts of France. 
From the difference 
in their work it is 
not hard to divide 
the furniture made 
at this time into 
two schools, that 
of the lie de France 
and that of Bur¬ 
gundy. Sambin’s 
influence can be 
traced in the later 
style of Louis 
XIV. The portion 
of the Renaissance 
By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
An early Gothic chair. Most of the furni¬ 
ture in this period of religious fervor was 
made for the Church 
