A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART 1100-1899 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART I IOO-I 899 ROSE G. KINGSLEY OFFICIER DE L'lNSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1899 TO MY FRIENDS LEONCE BENEDITE, CONSERVATEUR DU MUSEE DU LUXEMBOURG, AND ANTONIN BABTHELEMY, ATTACHE - AU CONSULAT GENERAL DE FRANCE, A LONDRES, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK, WHICH WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN WRITTEN WITHOUT THEIR ENCOURAGEMENT AND HELP. PREFACE. When, some three years ago, my friend M. Antonin Barthelemy begged me to write a general History of French Art from the twelfth century to the present day — a book which he said was much needed — I felt at once that, congenial as the task was, it would be beyond my powers unless I could count upon the help and counsel of the best French Authorities. That help and counsel has been given me with no grudging hand. From first to last, a ready and generous interest has been shown by all in my work. And it has been my good fortune to find that the most distinguished intellects of France are ready to open the stores of their learning, and to spare neither time or trouble, if they can thereby aid any student who is really in earnest. To all those who, in Paris and elsewhere, have helped and encouraged me, I offer my most grateful thanks for endless kindness, courtesy, and acts of friendship. The original scheme of the book was suggested by M. Antonin Barthelemy. And to him are due many of its most valuable pages, especially in the first and twelfth chapters. From M. Roujon, the distinguished Directeur des Beaux Arts, I have received never- failing help. For his all-powerful word has unlocked Vlll PREFACE. every door, and given me priceless opportunities of study in public and private collections. To M. de Nolhac, conservateur, and M. Perate, conservateur- adjoint, those well-known authorities, I owe delight- ful and instructive days in that great Museum of Decorative Art, the Palace of Versailles. With M. Emile Molinier, I have been privileged to examine the Ivories and other treasures of the Louvre. The kindness of M. Bouchot, the learned chief of the Galerie des Estampes, in the Bibliotheque Rationale, and M. Auguste Raffet, enabled me to make a thorough study of the MSS. and drawings of the Renaissance period. M. Armand Dayot, inspecteur des Beaux Arts, and M. Roger Marx, inspecteur principal des Musees, have supplemented the counsel they are so well able to give, with valuable introduc- tions, and books and pamphlets which I could not have obtained otherwise. M. Eugene Mtintz, Librarian of the I?cole des Beaux Arts, placed his erudition at the service of my task, giving me invaluable help in the choice of my authorities. While, to my friends, M. Andre Michel, conserva- teur au Musee du Louvre, and M. Leonce Benedite, conservateur du Musee du Luxembourg, I owe a debt that has been steadily growing for years and can never be paid, of gratitude for all I have learnt from them, whether among the sculptures of the Louvre, the paintings of the Luxembourg, or the last word of modernite in the Salons. I must add that from MM. Boussod and Valadon, and MM. Durand-Ruel, I have for years received every assistance and courtesy in my studies in Modern French Art. PREFACE. IX In a book of this size it is impossible to give anything approaching a complete list of the works of each painter and sculptor. I have not therefore attempted to do more than indicate a few of the best examples ; and those — as far as possible — are taken from among works I have myself seen. Many well- known pictures in private collections both in England, France and America, I have been obliged to omit, owing to the extreme difficulty of tracing their present owners. I shall be grateful for any communications on this point, from the possessors of French pictures, ancient or modern. It has also been impossible to include certain branches of French Art. The enamels of Limoges, and the pottery of Bernard Palissy, would lead on to the porcelain of Sevres, to the modern decorative glass and pottery of Galle, Thesmar, and many more. But these would need a volume to themselves ; and, as life is short, it was necessary to put some limit to this attractive and interesting subject. I have there- fore confined myself to the three great fellow arts of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting. And if my poor words help in any degree to a better knowledge of the art and aims of our sister country, I shall be more than rewarded for my labour. ROSE G. KINGSLEY. 28th February, 1899. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION. The French Eace and Soil— An Outline of French Art ... 1 II. Architecture and Sculpture before the Renais- sance, 1100-1500 15 III. The Renaissance in France, 1475-1589 ... .. 37 IV. Architects of the Renaissance ... 52 V. Sculptors of the Renaissance 74 VI. Painters of the Renaissance 88 VII. Art under Henri IV. and Louis XIII., 1589-1643... 105 VIII. Reign of Louis XIV— The Academy and Painters 131 IX. Reign of Louis XIV. (continued) — Architects and Sculptors 161 X. The Art of the Eighteenth Century 187 XI. Art of the Eighteenth Century (continued) — Sculp- tors and Architects 220 XII. What the Revolution did for Art 241 XIII. Art of the Nineteenth Century— The Classics ... 257 XIV. The Romantics 284 XV. The Landscape Painters 302 XVI. The Peasant Painters 324 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Art op the Nineteenth Century {continued) — XVII. Military Painters 343 XVIII. Genre Painters and Orientalists 367 XIX. Portrait Painters 389 XX. Imaginative Painters. Decorative Painters. Idealists. Symbolists 405 XXI. The Impressionists ... 429 XXII. Architecture of the Nineteenth Century 449 XXIII. Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century — 1. The Pioneers ^ 470 XXIV. French Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century — 2. Contemporary Sculptors and Medallists 489 INDEX 511 AUTHORITIES. 1. Dictionnaire raisonne de 1' Architecture Francaise 2. Musee du Trocadero 3. Gothic Architecture 4. La Sculpture Francaise au moyen age 5. La Sculpture Francaise 6. The Renaissance . 7. The Renaissance of Art in France 8. Le Louvre .... 9. La Renaissance en France . 10. Diet, des Architectes Francais 11. Diet, des Architectes Francais 12. Diet, des Artistes Francais . 13. Renaissance des Arts en France 14. Catalogue of f5cole Francaise au Louvre 15. Les Clouet. Artistes celebres 16. Modern Architecture . 17. L'Art sous Richelieu et Mazarin 18. Le Musee National de Versailles 19. L'Art au 18 me siecle 20. Watteau. Artistes celebres 21. Boucher. Artistes celebres 22. Greuze. Artistes celebres 23. Les Artistes de mon temps 24. Ingres et ses ceuvres 25. Musee du Louvre . 26. Peintres et Sculpteurs contemporains 27. Corot, Souvenirs intimes 28. Les chef d'eeuvres de l'Art au 19 me siecle, Vol. 1 Viollet-Le-Duc. Viollet-Le-Duc. Prof. C. H. Moore. A. de Baudot. Louis Gonse. Walter Pater. Lady Dilke. Babeau. Leon Palustre. Bauchal. Jal. Bellier de la Chavignerie. de Laborde. F. Villot. Bouchot. Fergusson. Lemonnier. de Nolhac et Perate. E. and J. de Goncourt. . G. Dargenty. Andre Michel. Ch. Normand. Charles Blanc. Charles Blanc. Theophile Gautier. Jules Claretie. Henri Daumesnil. Andre Michel. xiv AUTHORITIES. 29. Hist, du Departement de Sculpture moderne, Louvre . Courajod. 30. Le Musee des Monuments Francais .... Alexandre Lenoir. 31. La Gapitale de l'Art Albert Wolff. 32. Maitres et petits-maitres . Ph. Burty. 33. The Barbizon School D. Croal Thomson. 34. J. F. Millet, sa vie et ses ceuvres ...... Sensier. 35. Courbet Cmte. H. d'Ideville. 36. Jules Bastien-Lepage Julia M. Ady 37. Charlet Armand Dayot. 38. Raffet Armand Dayot. 39. L'Ecole Orientalist ....... Leonce Benedite. 40. L'Art Moderne Andre Michel. 41. Manet Bazire. 42. Souvenirs de Manet Antonin Proust 43. Critique d'Avant Garde Theodore Duret. Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd series. "Salons" by MM. G. Lafenestre, Andre Michel, Roger Marx, Leonce Benedite, Armand Dayot, etc., etc. ABBKEVIAT10NS AND SIGNS. o.* - - - 0* - - - G.O.* - M. de l'Inst. M. de d'Acad. Fb. I3ib, Nat, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Officier of the Legion of Honour. Commandeur of the Legion of Honour. Grand Officier of the Legion of Honour ' Membre de Vlnstitut. Membrc de VAcad&mie Frangaise. BiliotMque Nationale, Paris, CHAPTEE I. INTEODUCTION. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL— AN OUTLINE OF FRENCH ART. French Art, at more than one period of its being so widely known, so justly celebrated, and exercising so great an in- fluence on the Art of Northern Europe, has for a consider- able time been completely ignored in England. Our national collections — with the one exception, so recent that it cannot be taken into account, of Hertford House — contain few examples of French pictures or sculptures later than the days of Poussin and Claude Lorraine, of Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon. And it is safe to say that no modern nation has been so ignorant of what French Art has accomplished in the last hundred years, as England. Within the last decade, however, a remarkable awaken- ing of interest has been manifested. This has been mainly due to two causes. First, to the efforts of private collectors, who have generously allowed the public to see the master- pieces in their possession of Corot and Eousseau, Millet, Diaz, Troyon, Daubigny, and many others. Secondly, to the extraordinary impulse given by the memorable Centennial Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, where a unique opportunity was afforded to the civilized world of studying the progress of French Art since the Eevolution. English artists are now beginning to complain that it is not just that they should be forced to go out of their own country to study the work of their French brethren. And the English Art-loving public is slowly waking up to the fact, that a great and splendid expression of Art has existed and does still exist across the Channel — a national Art, as important, in many respects, 1 2 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. I. as the Art of Italy and Spain, beyond which two countries a large majority never dream of looking. Believing in the extreme importance and value of this artistic expression, both in the past and in the present, the endeavour of this book will be to supply English people with a guide, which will enable them not only to make fuller acquaintance with the works of Modern French artists, but enable them to judge French Art as a whole. A guide which will give them some insight into the history and develop- ment of French Art, which for 800 years has stood alone, individual and national, untouched by the schools of neigh- bouring nations. A guide which will show why it has flourished with such remarkable vigour, and what are the tendencies of race and soil which have contributed to its growth, and its often repeated renaissance. We have therefore to ask, what are the influences which have fostered the growth of French Art? And by Art, Sculpture and Painting alone are not meant. In studying this subject it is necessary to take that wider acceptation of the term, which happily is obtaining more and more in modern days. We must not ignore Architecture, of which Sculpture was but the handmaid, until she grew strong enough to stand alone. Nor must we forget the miniatures, the medals, the ivories, the enamels, the decorative metal work. All these bear their part in French Art. All have helped in perfecting that expression of the artistic sense in France, which has set its stamp of exquisite taste and dis- tinct artistic quality on all that the nation has produced, whether in the so-called "Fine-Arts," or in manufactures. The same artistic sense which has made French literature a model of form, distinction, and purity of diction to the whole world. We believe that an intimate connection exists between the Art of a nation and its literature, and that both are influenced by its social and political conditions. We further believe that the intellectual and artistic activity of a nation is, to a very great extent, formed and modified by its geo- graphic aspects. And in France it would seem that each 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 3 province, differing widely in racial as well as in geographic character, has brought a distinct note of its own to add to the general harmony of the French genius. In other nations we see that their Art has undoubtedly been affected by conditions of race, soil, and climate. The blue sky and blue waves of Italy — its vines, and olives, and cypress groves, the grace and charm of its women, in whom the mysterious attraction of the goddess of antiquity seems to live afresh, were predestined to produce that most perfect flower of Art, which has made the whole country a shrine. And to that shrine a ceaseless stream of devotees have flocked for hundreds of years, paying eternal homage to eternal beauty. In Spain — the land of fierce adventure and passionate serenade, severe in its natural aspects, with a people of strongly-marked characteristics, tough as their own Toledo blades, gloomy and fanatical in their religion — we get the very key to Spanish Art. And the inex- pressible charm which reigns over the English landscape —the sense of tranquil security — the country life and love of nature which are so closely bound up with the life of the whole nation — the deep, heavy colour — the moist verdure of hedgerow and pasture, woodland and moorland — to all these elements we owe our great landscape artists, who have so nobly interpreted the solid, steadfast, yet tender beauty of their country. France is in some respects the most richly-dowered country on earth, both in the characteristics of her race and in the diversity of her natural gifts. And France has always, captivated the world by her very contradictions. Despite momentary irritations and impatiences, she must always be, not only to her children, but to all who have once experienced her subtle charm, what she was called of old — " La douce France ". Her race, composed of many elements, has pre- served the characteristics of each, and gradually fused them into a harmonious whole. From her Eoman Conquerors, from the Latinized Gauls of Narbonne and Acquitaine, France derives, besides her language, the taste for unification and authority, precision, 4 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. I. distinctness, lucidity. With their irruption into Gaul, the Burgundian tribes brought their skill as artizans from beyond the mountains. And " the Gothic people almost immediately " after their settlement in Acquitaine, manifested a singular " aptitude for a yet higher civilization ". From her original inhabitants, the Gauls, she gets that courage which, as Sir James Stephen says, "when unchilled by oppression and " slavery was of an almost incomparable ardour. Keenly " susceptible of every kind of impulse, impelled into speech " and action by a restless constitutional vivacity, fickle of " purpose, impatient of the tranquil rule of law, and involved "in perpetual disunions with each other, this ingenious, " volatile enthusiastic race might seem to have been moulded " by the hand of nature herself, as a living antithesis to " their Teutonic Conquerors (the Franks). The subtle, in- " sinuating, courteous Gaul despised, even while he obeyed, "the sluggish, simple-minded German; and found inex- " haustible food for ridicule in his blunt speech and phleg- 11 matic demeanour. The Gaul yielded himself recklessly to " every gust of emotion. The German lived under the con- xi trol of passions as measured in their outward manifestation, as they were fervent and enduring in reality. The Gaul " . . . was egregiously vain. The German neither rendered " nor coveted any idolatrous homage, but meditating the in- " terests of his nation, or his tribe, merged his own fame in " theirs, and cheerfully abandoned his separate purposes to " promote the designs of his associates in policy or in arms." Thus from the mercurial, emotional Gauls, and from their phlegmatic, but equally passionate Frankish Conquerors, France derives, besides courage, enthusiasm for noble causes, the desire for self-devotion, not exempt perhaps from a certain curiosity with regard to the affairs of others, her elo- quence, her vivacity, and that imaginative faculty in which her children take refuge as an escape from the unhappy realities of life, which are too often their own handiwork. The soil of France is as rich in diversities as the elements that go to make up her race. And, as with her race, these manifold diversities in no way impair that unity, which is the 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 5 object France always has in view, and which is an absolute necessity to the French race. At one extreme we find Flanders, with its wide expanse of flat, fertile country, inhabited by a stolid and masculine people. At the other, those provinces of the South, where the soft languor of nature, basking lazily in the sun, does not hinder the southern character from being vigorously equipped for the struggles or excitements of commerce or politics — even as the fierce mistral sweeps across the sunlit land. There is Brittany — the Armorica of the ancient Gauls — -dreamy and passionate, with its mysterious landes, peopled with supernatural beings who form part of the everyday life of the Breton peasant. Brittany, with its robust and serious faith, which makes even the most sceptical bow his head as the Pardon passes by. Brittany, where the love even of the poorest is pervaded with an element of tender and religious sadness. " Belle aniie, ainsi vas de nous " Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous." Champagne, light and sparkling as its own wine. The Lyonnais, where, above the busy factories and workshops, rises the mystic spire of Notre Dame de Fourvieres. Nor- mandy, of fat pastures and racy legends ; whose faithful, hard- working race, despite their matter-of-fact appearance, are as solid and sturdy as the architecture that bears their name. Poitou, which Scaliger called the " Soul of France " ; a luminous centre of civilization in the dark ages of her history. The rugged, volcanic Auvergne, with its industrious people, the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole of France. Touraine where the language is so pure, the laugh so hearty and wholesome, and Chateaux and Palaces of King and Courtier lie scattered thick along her noble rivers. " L'aimable et vineuse Bourgogne." And Paris, where France finds her supreme expression. The French soil, therefore, with its unique variations, has undoubtedly been a considerable factor in moulding the French race, formed in its turn of such diverse elements. And all outside attempts to destroy the whole that we call 6 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Ch. I. France, have only resulted in welding these various and widely differing particles into a great unity. For, although at times the very existence of France may appear to be im- perilled by internal dissensions, all are forgotten if her integrity is menaced from without. And it is the actual exaggeration of that love of the Patrie—so admirable in itself — that leads France, at times, to make herself somewhat absurd in the eyes of calmer and less vivacious nations. For go where you will, place him in what circumstances you will, the Frenchman — be he from Normandy or Bor- deaux, from Provence or from Brittany, remains essentially French ; and will always be more French than anything else. Sensitive, quick-witted, impulsive, suspicious of other nations and ready to take offence, truly patriotic, believing in the absolute superiority of his own country over all others on earth, the Frenchman, that mixture of Latin, Gaul and Franc, is above all an Artist. His delight is in the ex- pression of the beautiful in well-ordered form — whether in literature — in the Fine Arts — in the cooking of his food — or in the trimming of a bonnet. And this keen artistic sense, does not merely belong to the educated classes of France. It belongs to the very soil. It manifests itself in all parts of France. It has done so from the earliest days of her history. Those untaught, untrained, nameless monks, who covered the Cathedrals of Provence and Acquitaine, Flanders and l'lsle de France with sculpture, were sons of the people. If we examine the biographies of French artists, we find that a large proportion of those who have distinguished themselves in painting or sculpture, from the 15th century to the present day, have been the sons of poor peasants. In French literature it is the same. The most exquisite literary taste has been cradled in the peasant's hut, or on the small farm. This has been seen during the last twenty years in the remarkable poetic revival in Provence ; where it has fallen out at the annual meeting of the Felibres, that the writer of the prize poem of the year cannot attend to receive her prize, because her father needs her help in the hay field. 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 7 Art in France is indeed the heritage of the people. And even where it does not attain that full expression which makes the Artist, the artistic sense, which belongs to France, makes itself felt in every industrial product, in every manu- facture. Each dainty article de Paris that we buy for a few pence — each yard of stuff — besides being admirably well- made, possesses a certain distinction and grace, a harmony of colour and design, that in the course of centuries has made Paris the arbiter of fashion for the world. And do not let us treat this matter too lightly. It is not the result of mere chance, or of a passing fancy. A far deeper signi- ficance underlies it. For it is the evidence of ^forces which have won this position by some intrinsic merit of their own. The French spirit is intensely articulate. Though the thought may not be of the deepest or the greatest, the ex- pression of that thought, whether in Art or in literature, is always perfectly lucid ; put in the most admirablejform ; and fearless, because deeply convinced. That love of the con- crete rather than of the abstract, which leads France into the worship of an exaggerated bureaucratic system, of an excessive centralization, enables her also to see the goal clearly, and to make direct for it without hesitation or un- certainty. There is nothing tentative or nebulous in the works of Art or of literature that France has produced. That conscience in intellectual matters, which, as Matthew Arnold tells us, the Frenchman possesses in such an emi- nent degree — "his active belief that there is a right and a " wrong in them, that he is bound to honour and obey the "right, that he is disgraced by cleaving to the wrong" — is brought to bear on all that he does. It is to be seen and felt in his plays, his pictures, his buildings, his manufactures. And the reason why we go to France for our china, our jewels, our gowns, our stuffs — the reason why we are be- ginning to go to France for our pictures and our statues — is, that the production of each, whether costly or of no value, shows the evidence of that intellectual conscience, which for hundreds of years has trained and guided the taste of the whole nation. 8 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. I. The ground is ready — prepared by a series of fortuitous circumstances, by qualities of exceptional variety and value in race and soil. We have now to see what is the crop it brings forth. French genius may»be said to be the harmonious result of two tendencies which at first sight are contradictory. The taste for positive realizations, and imaginative sentiment. And French genius has always shown itself triumphant in the handling of those two primordial forms of Art, which are the outcome of these tendencies — Architecture, and its im- mediate successor Sculpture. The Gallo-Franc is by nature an architect and a sculptor. And no people have brought a more lively invention, a more sustained and closely reasoned logic, a more continuous power of renewal, of fresh growth, to bear on these two expressions of the aesthetic idea, than the French. The object of this book will be to give in as far as is possible, a consecutive history of the growth of French Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting from the 12th century to the present day. And to demonstrate that French Art has throughout been in sympathy with the national characteristics of the country, and of the people of France. In Architecture we shall glance at the early styles. The Romanesque of the Gallo-Roman provinces of Provence and Auvergne ; and the Romanesque or Norman of Bayeux and Caen. The Gothic, which had its origin in the very heart of France ; and the Flamboyant, which marks its beautiful decay. ' Then we shall watch the effect of the Italian Renaissance on French architects. The gradual de- velopment of the purely French style, in those Chateaux that clustered down the Loire like beads upon a rosary — those palaces that sprang up in and about Paris, now at length the real capital of the Kingdom. The magnificences, severe and official, of the reign of Louis XIV. The later Classic revival of the end of the 18th century. And we shall study the lives and aims of the brilliant line of architects from Bullant, De l'Orme and Pierre Lescot, from Le Vau and Mansart, Le Mercier and Perrault, to Fontaine and Percier, 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 9 Labrouste and Visconti, Brongniart and Duban, Viollet-le- Duc and Charles Garnier. We shall see how Sculpture, from being a mere accessory to Architecture, develops under the humanists of the French Renaissance into a noble and distinct art, in the hands of such masters as Jean Goujon. Germain Pilon, Pierre Bontemps. It was a gradual development. And to trace it from its source is a task of deep interest and import. Sculpture, up to the end of the 13th century was almost wholly religious. For Architecture till that period was almost exclusively in the hands of the Church, and was the expression of the religious idea. But as early as Louis le Gros' accession in 1108 we get the first faint sign of Naturalism. It is shown primarily in ornament. The leaf of the French Arum appears in capitals. A little later we find it in the treat- ment of figures. And gradually the Byzantine ideal dies out, when Naturalist begins to take the place of Hieratic Art about 1150, as we may see in the figures of Bourges and Chartres. In the reign of Philippe-Auguste (1180-1223), when Royalty and the Church turn to the laity for help, the great expansion of sculptural Art — the building of the Cathedrals — is reached. Gothic Art, strong, fertile, fully equipped, is ready to make its superb response to the extraordinary de- mands made upon it. And we find the sculptors of the 13th century are more than capable of carrying out the tremendous programme laid before them. For they now draw their inspiration, not from an effete Byzantinism, but from the wells of truth itself. And they create an original, national, living, expressive art, admirably suited to its object — " picturesque while it is grave, delicate while it remains " monumental, an art at once free, ingenuous, flexible and " varied, the eloquent interpreter of the religious thought " which inspires it — the docile assistant of those architectural " forms, of which its Mission is to accentuate the decorative " functions ". And Sculpture, like Architecture, gradually becomes the exact expression of the habits, the climate, the social conditions, and the very race of France. 10 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. I. At the end of the 13th century, four great Schools of Sculpture, each bring their special territorial expression to the history of the Art — Champagne — Picardy — Burgundy — ■ He de France. In the 14th century however, an important change takes place in Sculpture. Architecture has now become an exact Science. Sculpture, like Painting, turns towards a closer expression of reality. Art, as a whole, is tending towards Naturalism. We find what has been aptly called " l'inquietude du portrait ". And we see how this preoccupation with the exact portrait, which has been de- veloping for half a century in the purely French provinces, gains a footing in Flanders, and thence spreads all over France. Sculptors now become known by name and gather schools about them. Jean d'Arras, to whose chisel we owe the earliest Royal statue in marble, that of Philippe le Hardi (1298-1307), the first of the superb series of authentic effigies of the Kings of France. Andre Beauneveu of Valen- ciennes. Jean de Cambrai, one of the strongest individualities in French Sculpture. And that great Flemish-Burgundian, Claux Sluter, whose Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, at Dijon, has been justly compared as a work of art to some of the greatest statues of the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries. This brings us to the end of the 15th century and the dawn of the French Renaissance ; to a strong territorial ex- pression of French Art, the rise of the School of Tours, with that noble artist Michel Colombe at its head. And although it has been repeatedly asserted that this was a period of senility — that the French genius was worn out, and needed the infusion of new blood from Italy — later and less prejudiced research has demonstrated that the racial energy was so deeply rooted — the vital force of French Sculpture so intense — that it was able to maintain the continuity of a national ideal of Art — a logical evolution, through the Franco-Flemish, from the old Gothic foundation. In the early Benaissance period the architectural form remains Gothic. It is only ornament that becomes Italian for a time. And French Sculpture really bore the mark of Italy for a very short period. Under Francois I. (1515-1547) there was a pause, when Sculp- 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 11 ture became purely decorative and architectural again. But this was only a pause to gather fresh strength. For it was followed by the great national revival under Henri II. (1547-1559), when French Art blossomed once more with renewed vigour ; and the permanent instincts of the race triumphed over formulas which seemed destined to obscure them for ever. That splendid period, when Philibert de l'Orme and Pierre Bontemps erected the world - famous tomb of Francois I. — when Germain Pilon sculptured his Birague — and the immortal Jean Goujon gave us the de- corations of the Louvre and the Fontaine des Innocents, the Diane Ghasseresse, and how many more masterpieces. We then reach the Naturalist reaction under Louis XIII. and the successors of Germain Pilon. The " Siecle de Louis XIV." with its Girardon and Desjardins, its Pierre Pujet and Coysevox. The purely French Art of the 18th century with the Coustous, Bouchardon, Pigalle, the Caffieri, Pajou, Houdon. And so we come to the Eevolution — the dawning of the 19th century — and all the noble Modern School of sculptors, from Eude and the great Barye, to Car- peaux and Falguiere— Fremiet and Mercie — Guillaume and Chapu — Saint Marceaux and Eodin. While speaking of Sculpture we must also give space to the series of French Medals — a form of Art flourishing during the Eenaissance under Guillaume Martin, Guillaume Dupre, Jean Warin, and Germain Jacquet. And now carried to what seems the summit of artistic attainment, by Pons- carme, Michel Cazin, Dupuis, Chaplain, Patey, and that supreme master, Eoty. And some mention must be made of the ivories, especially those of the 13th and 14th centuries ; when great and nameless artists produced such chefs- d'ceuvres as the Bescente de Croix of the Louvre, the Gouronnement de la Vierge, and the entrancing Vierge de la Sainte Chapelle. In the history of French Painting, to which a great part of this book will naturally be devoted, considerable difficulty and obscurity exists when we attempt to trace its very be- ginnings. Sculpture and Architecture had reached a high 12 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. I. point of attainment before painting began to hold its own in France. The earliest paintings are to be found in missals. The earliest existing portraits are miniatures in manuscripts. And this exquisite art of miniature painting has flourished with almost unrivalled success in France, from anonymous monks in the 13th century, to Gerbier and Petitot in the 17th, Isabey, Guerin, Augustin, Frederic Millet, etc., in the 18th and 19th centuries. The long roll of authentic French artists begins in the 15th century, with Jehan Fouquet of Tours, and King Rene of Anjou. But the distinctive French School can hardly be said to exist before the 16th century, which opens gloriously with those renowned portrait artists the Clouets, Jean, and Francois his son, both " peintres du roi " ; with Jean Cousin, and Corneille de Lyon. While a little later, we find Simon Vouet, the father of French Orientalists ; the Le Nains, whose poignant pictures of the peasant seem to presage the work and aims of Jean Francois Millet, nearly 300 years before he lived ; and the great Poussin. In the 17th century under Louis XIV., artists take their profession seriously. The Academy is founded. And Art becomes aristocratic and official — depending on the King and the government for long years to come — under the system of unification and order, instituted by Louis XIV. and Col- bert. And now such great names stand out in the crowd of painters as Gaspar Poussin (Dughet) and Claude Lorraine in landscape ; the lofty and delicate talent of Le Sceur ; Mignard, Largilliere and Rigaud, and the triumphant Le Brun. With the 18th century comes a reaction against official- ism — a return to a gayer, softer, less rigid view of life and Art than that of the Grand Steele. We delight in Watteau and Lancret, Chardin and Boucher, Greuze and Fragonard. While Nattier and Tocque paint the powder and paint, the silks and satins of the society of Fetes galantes. It is then that the first real intercourse takes place between Art and Letters, in the relations of the Philosophers and the artists. Art Criticism begins; and Diderot talks of "local 1100-1899. THE FRENCH RACE AND SOIL. 13 colour ". Then the Eevolution bursts upon the world. And we find that far from destroying Art, it is to the Eevolution that Modern Art owes its life. For though in places, the mob destroyed many priceless works of Art, the chiefs of the Eevolution did all in their power to preserve them. The Convention organized Museums and Schools of Art, in- stituted public exhibitions of pictures, fostered the Academy of Eome, created the Museum of the Louvre — and in short gave French Art that without which no Art can flourish — that of which it had so long been deprived — Liberty. At the end of the 18th century we find a fresh Classic revival. Its history, the tendencies and the results of the Classic school of David and his successors, are of high im- portance in any study of the art of the 19th century. While the reaction against this false classicism, in the so-called Eomantic movement under Gericault and Delacroix, is of even greater interest. In 1830 we reach the Naturalist re- vival — Corot and Eousseau, Dupre and Diaz, Daubigny, Harpignies, and Troyon, and all that they have taught the modern world. Then the painters of the Peasant — that evidence of the Democratic spirit of the age — the great Millet — the revolutionary Courbet — Bastien-Lepage, Jules Breton, and many more. With the Military painters we again watch the evolution of the democratic idea — from Gros, Charlet, Eaffet, and the Wars of Napoleon, to the terrible struggle of 1870, and its painters, De Neuville and Detaille. The endless series of Genre painters we shall find sub- divided into many groups, as we study the painters of Still Life, the Neo-Greeks of 1848, the Modern Classics, the painters of History and literature, of everyday life, whether of town or country or sea-shore. And that living and grow- ing school of Orientalists, which began with Simon Vouet in the 16th century, and numbers among its members such men as Delacroix, Decamps, Fromentin, Henri Eegnault, and many another fine artist of the present day. The Portrait painters too repay serious study. And thus we reach the most modern developments of French Art. The 14 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Ch. I. Decorative painters, from Delacroix to the great master, Puvis de Chavannes. The Symbolists, Idealists, Mystics, such as Gustave Moreau, and Henri Martin. And lastly the Impressionist school of to-day, from Manet to Claude Monet. All through the long centuries from 1100 to 1900, the vital energy of French Art, drawn from those varied elements of the race and soil of France, has enabled it to stand alone, to be itself. While invaded from time to time by foreign influences, such is the inherent vigour of the French race and French genius, that it has at last always succeeded in using those influences for its own ends, subordinating them to its own purposes, bending them to its service — not yield- ing up its own individuality to them. French Art has been true to itself — true to the dominant characteristics of the French race. As Joubert says " En France, il semble qu'on aime les " arts pour en juger bien plus que pour en jouir ". And so the French race has always been more intellectual than impressionable — more reasonable than moral — more literary than poetic — "Uprise de clarte "—often putting a practical business capacity in the place of common-sense — finding its highest artistic pleasure in the perfect order of architectural lines — making unity the guiding principle of its politics, its literature, its art. But, in fine, always clinging with passionate devotion to what it takes for truth, and to that lucidity of expression which is one of the most admirable forms of self-respect. CHAPTEE II. ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 1100—1500. " That which distinguishes French from all other European " Architecture, is, that during more than ten centuries it has "been cultivated in various original schools which came into " being spontaneously in different provinces, working in emula- " tion of each other on different principles and with different " methods, each imprinting on its works its special character " and yet a national stamp. From the 11th century each of " our provinces had its artists, its traditions, its system ; and " this astonishing variety in art has produced chefs-d'ceuvres " in almost every case. For all over France the genius of our " artists has left the strong impress of its grandeur and its " originality." 1 Until the end of the 13th century, Architecture is almost exclusively in the hands of the Church, and is the sesthetic expression of the religious spirit. The castles and palaces were to a great extent mere strongholds or fortresses Chateaux-forts — as their name denotes. Protection from danger, not beauty of living, was their use. It is therefore to the Churches and Abbeys that we must look for the earliest dawnings of architectural and sculptural art. From the time that Charlemagne introduced the civilizing influences of arts and letters from Some and Spain, to his barbarous populations, French Architecture has steadily developed on perfectly national lines. Fifty years after his death, those germs of the feudal system which already existed among the Franks, reasserted themselves. The 1 Viollet-le-Duc. (15) 16 A HISTOBY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. kingdom he had so laboriously welded together, broke up into separate provinces; and as M. Viollet-le-Duc points out, the particular genius of each province is reflected in the architectural monuments of the 9th and 10th centuries. "During the 11th and 12th centuries this diversity is "yet more marked. Each province forms a school. The " feudal system reacts on architecture ; and as each noble " shuts himself up in his domain, as each diocese isolates "itself from the neighbouring diocese, so, step by step, the " art of building follows this new political organization. " The builders no longer seek their precious materials afar "off, they no longer use the same receipts; they work on "their own ground, employ the materials within their reach, " modify their usages by reason of the climate in which they " live, and yield to purely local influences." 1 Hitherto art had been wholly confined to the limits of the cloister. The Abbey of Cluny (a.d. 909) enfranchised by the Pope from all dependence on King, bishop, or noble, was not only the type of all Abbeys of the Order of Cluny, but " simple parishes, rural buildings, public monuments in "the cities, took these centres of richness and light as their " models ". At the beginning of the 11th century the feudal system was fully organized ; and Bishops and Abbots exercised the same feudal rights as the lay lords : the Church thus losing its purely spiritual character, and becoming a secular power, opposed to that of the nobles. But now the people, jealous of the oppressive wealth and power of the Abbeys and of the feudal lords, used the opportunities offered by the struggle between the Church and the laity, and the series of civil wars which the feudal system engendered, to enfranchise themselves. And the Communes, destined to play so remark- able a part in French Architecture, were organized. From the 8th century each great monastery had had its ateliers of builders, carpenters, goldsmiths, sculptors, painters, etc. The lay corporations for these various trades which soon 1 Viollet-le-Duc, Diet, de V Architecture Francaise. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 17 sprang up within the Communes, followed the system of the monastic organization. And until the end of the 12th century, Architecture, even in the hands of lay architects, preserved much of its theocratic origin. One voice alone was raised against the growing artistic splendour of Monasteries and Churches. All the Monas- teries built under the inspiration of Saint Bernard, " marked "by a severity of style very uncommon at that moment, " contrast with the richness of the Abbeys under the order " of Cluny ". But Saint Bernard's reformation was per- sonal not national. It was contrary to the genius of the Gallo-Eoman population. His establishments, at the end of the 12th century, were left, the isolated protest of a single man, against the taste of a whole nation. While Archi- tecture, whether religious or civil, made use of every resource that sculpture or painting could afford for its embellishment. French Architecture before the Benaissance is of two styles. Romanesque, and that which grew by a logical evolu- tion from Romanesque — Gothic. In these two styles many diversities and subdivisions are to be found, dependent mainly on those racial and climatic influences of which I have already spoken. But they are distinguished by two absolute principles. In Romanesque, the principle of inert stability. In Gothic, that of a perfectly scientific principle of exquisitely - balanced equilibrium. Strength distinguishes the Romanesque style. Logical and symmetrical beauty and grace the Gothic. The early Romanesque Church, built on the lines of the Latin Basilica, is marked by massive walls, small apertures, horizontal lines, absence of vaultings, thick round pillars, round-headed arches — simplicity and inert strength. In the later Romanesque buildings, signs of the coming change are found in the general use of vaultings and the conse- quent necessity for buttresses. To this I will refer later. Romanesque in France is of two styles — that of Southern Gaul, the part of France in closest contact with Roman and Byzantine influence. And that of Normandy, and 2 18 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. consequently of England. Let us, following the lines laid down by Viollet-le-Duc, first glance at that of Southern Gaul. In the 11th century many antique buildings remained almost intact, in the valleys of the Ehone and Saone, from Marseilles to Chalons. And the Eoman remains, found so abundantly in Provence, are reproduced in the details — even where the whole has been modified to suit fresh conditions — of the churches of Thor, Venasques, Pemes, the porches of Notre Dame cles Dons at Avignon, Saint Trophyme at Aries, and Saint Gilles. The constant intercourse of the coast towns with the East, is manifested in the Byzantine type of orna- ment as well as in the general idea. Higher up the Ehone this type changes, as it comes in contact with a second Oriental influence from the east of the Ehine. For while in the 12th century the Mediterranean Coasts were in direct communication with the East, the Byzantine art of the Trans-Bhenan provinces had existed from the time of Charlemagne, modified of course by local causes. A singu- lar admixture of these two architectural influences is to be found in the Haute-Saone, Burgundy and Champagne. And yet the result is harmonious, in the hands of men who probably worked in complete ignorance of the origin of the ideas they used, as seen in the church of Tournus, the Abbeys of Vezelay, Gharlieu and Gluny. But there were other channels, as Viollet-le-Duc points out, by which the Oriental influence penetrated the Gallo- Eoman provinces. The Abbey Church of Saint Front, Pe'ri- gueux, founded in a.d. 984, was built exactly on the plan of Saint Mark's, Venice, either under the direction of a French- man who had studied Saint Mark's (built a few years before), or of a Venetian. But in either case by Gallo-Eoman work- men. For if the architecture — a Church with cupolas upon pendentives — is Venetian, "the construction and details of " the ornamentation belong to the Eoman decadence, and do " not in any way recall the sculpture or method of building "employed at Saint Mark's ". Without any wish to plunge rashly into the controversy which rages round Saint Front in the architectural world at the present moment, it is 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 19. certain that the influence of this church on the buildings of Acquitaine in the 11th and 12th centuries was considerable. And the Cathedrals of Poitiers, Angers, and even Le Mans show "in the method of constructing the vaultings of the "great naves a last trace of the cupola". But the extent and significance of this influence has been greatly exag- gerated. Nothing certainly is more natural than the presence of oriental influence in the South-west of France. For numerous Venetian colonies existed at Limoges and on the West coast, carrying the whole commerce between the Levant and the North of France and Britain across from Marseilles or Narbonne to La Eochelle or Nantes, in order to avoid the perils of pirates in the Straits of Gibraltar. In the North of France no monuments exist prior to the coming of the Normans. The Danish incursions swept everything away. And though some traces of Merovingian buildings were probably existent, it is to the Normans alone the North owes its architecture. For once established they became bold and active builders. They began, as was natural with conquerors, by castles as fortresses. But with their shrewd sense, they soon recognized the importance of the clergy ; and it only took them a century and a half to cover the land with buildings, religious, monastic, and civil, of a richness and magnitude very unusual at that time, bringing to bear upon architecture their national genius, positive, grand, somewhat barbaric, and yet singularly detached and fearless. The Normans also, had constant intercourse with the East. But with them the Eastern influence was not mani- fested in construction, as in Acquitaine, but in decoration. To the first Crusades and the Norman conquests in Sicily and Spain, those gorgeous stuffs are due which appear in all tombs and paintings of the 12th century. And while in Normandy the architectural forms follow the Gallo-Eoman or the Bomanesque traditions, the decoration of the 11th and 12th centuries is Levantine. The noblest examples of Northern Bomanesque, are the Abbey Churches of la Trinite and Saint-Etie?me, Caen, commonly called VAbbaye aux Dames, and VAbbaye aux Hommes. 20 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. The Eomanesque Church, as I have said, is built on the plan of the Latin Basilica, modified to suit the requirements of Christian worship. In the 10th century the apse was the only portion in which vaultings were found. The nave and aisles were covered with timber-work. But this presented constant dangers from decay and from fire. And gradually stone vaults were adopted. The system of vaulting the basilica differed greatly in different parts of France. In Acquitaine the cupolas of Saint Front affected the roofs of many churches. In Auvergne, and following the Loire as far north as Nevers, the barrel roof was adopted, with demi- vaults resting upon the walls of the clerestory and support- ing the central vault. Notre Dame du Port at Clermont- Ferrand, and Saint Etienne at Nevers are perfect specimens of this type. "In these buildings all the thrusts of the " vaults are thoroughly maintained; and it is thus they are "preserved intact to our day ". In Poitou, and part of the West and South, another system obtained. The side aisles were raised to the height of the nave, and the small ribbed or barrel vaults of these aisles supported the central vault. The Abbey Church of Saint-Savin near Poitiers is con- structed on this plan. Yet another difference should be remarked between the Northern and the Southern styles. In the Churches of Auvergne and the South the vaults entirely supersede the use of timber-work — the roof of tiles or stone resting upon them. While in the North, in Normandy, He de France, Picardy, Champagne, and Burgundy, both systems are used. Where the basilica is vaulted, the timber-work remains, bearing the roof of tiles, slates or lead. For in the cold and damp northern climate, roofs resting directly on the vaulting were quickly destroyed. And the space between, not only preserved the vaultings, but allowed of frequent inspection. When the Eomanesque builders began to vault their naves, the necessity for buttresses was immediately felt. The pilaster strip, which hitherto had been little more than ornamental, or at most served to stiffen the wall, was not enough to bear the increased pressure put on the walls by 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. •21 the vaultings. It gradually grew into a true buttress. And the expedients used to augment the power of resistance of this clerestory buttress eventually developed the idea of the flying-buttress. "In the Abbaye aux Hommes at Caen the " forms of the vaults — which date from the early part of the " 12th century and are among the earliest that were con- " structed over a nave — were such as to exert powerful "thrusts. That is to say, the arches of their groins were " curves of low sweep, such as the Eomanesque builders had " derived from Eoman intersecting vaults, and consequently " of enormous push. To stay these vaults, the expedient " was adopted of constructing demi-barrel vaults, springing " from the top of the aisle walls, and abutting against the " wall of the nave under the aisle roofs. These demi-vaults "were in reality concealed continuous flying-buttresses." 1 With this development of the buttress — with the use, which soon followed, of independent arches or ribs along the groins, serving in some degree to support the vaults — and with the introduction of a separate " support for each "rib or arch to be carried, which constitutes the functional " grouping of supports — we complete the list of those " structural improvements devised by Eomanesque builders ". In them we find some of the rudiments of Gothic Archi- tecture, which was to develop with such amazing rapidity into a system of triumphant and unsurpassed beauty, because it was the expression of a purely national Art, and responded to the genius and the needs of the race who produced it. As with the national political development, so the national art emanates from the heart of France — the Eoyal Domain — File de France. At the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries, it was in the Domaine Boyal, with portions of the neighbouring provinces, Champagne, Burgundy, Picardy, Orleanais, and Berry, that Gothic Architecture took its birth ; and its earliest perfect example is the glorious church of Saint Denis. The principles of Gothic construction are to some extent to be found in the Abbey Church of Morienval. For as I have endeavoured to show, it 1 C. H. Moore. 22 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. was suggested long before it came into being. It is not only derived from Romanesque, by a logical evolution ; it " is Romanesque re-created. Every constructive member of " a Gothic building exists, in rudimentary form, in a vaulted " Norman building." But the flying-buttress and the pointed arch in the ribs of the vault render the Gothic system possible — that highly organized skeleton, which, when its guiding constructive principle is once recognized and adhered to, may be varied in details of arrangement and decoration, internal and external, to a bewildering extent. I cannot do better than quote Professor C. H. Moore's masterly summing up of Viollet-le-Duc upon Gothic Architec- ture, which he says " came into being as the result of the " development of a new constructive system of building. A " system which was a gradual evolution out of the Roman - " esque ; and one whose distinctive characteristic is that " the whole character of the building is determined by, and " its whole strength made to reside in, a finely organized, " and frankly confessed, framework, rather than in walls. " This framework, made up of piers, arches, and buttresses, " is freed from every unnecessary encumbrance of wall, and " is rendered as light in al] its parts as is compatible with " strength in a system whose stability depends not upon any " inert massiveness, but upon a logical adjustment of active " parts whose opposing forces produce a perfect equilibrium. "It is thus a system of balanced thrusts, as opposed to the " former system of inert stability. Gothic Architecture is " indeed much more than such a constructive system, but it " is this primarily and always." For it must be remembered — a fact which has too often been ignored or misunderstood — that the difference between Gothic and Romanesque Architecture is far more fundamen- tal than between the use of pointed as against round arches, or of one system of decoration as against another; though both these differences exist, and are of extreme interest and importance. Gothic Architecture is a living being. In its constructive system, in its decorative system, it is instinct with life. It is to nature that it goes for its decorative system. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 23 It is to the profoundest principles of mechanical science that it goes for its constructive system. And thus the pure Gothic building rises from the earth like the tree in the forest ■ — its living beauty co-existent with absolute obedience to architectural laws. The three-quarters of a century from 1150 to 1225, was a period unequalled in history for the number and extraordinary beauty of Ecclesiastical edifices which were built in the He de France. The charming legend at Laon which tells how the oxen harnessed themselves to the carts to transport stone for the Cathedral up the precipitous rock on which it stands, is but typical of the fervent religious enthusiasm which pos- sessed the whole population, and the zeal with which they voluntarily gave themselves over to the building of innu- merable Churches and Cathedrals. It is impossible in a limited space to enter fully into the Gothic renaissance. A mere list of Churches and Cathedrals would fill many chapters. For besides the great Cathedrals, Abbey Churches such as St. Germain des Pres, St. Leu d'Esserant, St. Bemi de Reims, sprang up all over the face of the land. It is however to Saint Denis that we must turn for the earliest example of the pure Gothic system of construction. Senlis and Noyon follow Saint Denis about the middle of the 12th century. And the last years of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries witness the building of Notre Dame de Paris, Notre Dame de Chartres, and the Cathedrals of Bourges, Laon, Soissons, Meaux, Bouen, Cambrai, Arras, Tours, Bayeux, Coutances, Amiens, Bheims, Chalons, Troyes, Auxerre, Nevers and Lyons. SCULPTURE. Sculpture first serves merely to enhance the beauty of architectural lines. And as it is used chiefly for religious purposes so we find it Byzantine in its ideal, until the accession of Louis le Gros, 1108. "The Art of Sculpture," says Viollet-le-Duc, "among " all the peoples who have attained a high degree of civiliza- " tion, divides itself into three periods : — - 24 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. "1. Imitation of nature following a more or less delicate " and intelligent interpretation. " 2. The Archaic epoch, during which the endeavour is " made to fix the types. " 3. The epoch of emancipation and search for truth in " the detail, and the perfecting of means of observation and " execution." All nations do not carry out this whole programme. "While some work through the three periods, others only accomplish the two first and never get beyond the hieratic period. This has been the case with most Oriental peoples — the ancient Egyptians and the Byzantines. But in high civilizations — with sculptural instincts — a curious analogy is seen between the productions of these three periods. " Thus the archaic epoch of the Greeks shows the most " intimate relation to the archaic epoch of the 12th century " in France. Certain statues in the Boyal doorway of " Chartres placed beside certain figures of the archaic period "in Greece, reveal remarkable affinities in their manner of "interpreting nature, in their conception of types, and in " their execution." And the same analogies might be found in sculptures of the period of emancipation, between Greek Art after Phidias, and French Art after the 13th and 14th centuries. French Sculpture, I have said, is at first Byzantine in its ideal. But at the beginning of the 12th century we get the first suggestion of the period of emancipation — of the evolu- tion of natural as against hieratic Art — a suggestion very faint as yet, but of deep significance ; and strangely enough an indication already of the national character of French Art. For it is the leaf of a French plant — the French Arum of the marshes, that appears in the ornamentation of capitals, as we may see at Morienval, Saint-Etienne de Beauvais, Belle- fontaine, Cambronne. Other plants are then added by degrees — all within the limits of the school of l'lle de France. In 1150, we perceive the same evolution beginning in the treatment of figures. Again natural begins to take the place of hieratic Art, as we may see in the figures at Bourges 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 25 and Chartres. Indeed, it is with the Doorway of Chartres that Modern French Sculpture may be said to begin. With the reign of Philippe-Auguste and the 13th century comes the great expansion of sculptural Art. King and Church, as I have shown, now turn to the laity for the erection of the great Cathedrals. And they find that Gothic sculpture, in the hands of four great provincial schools — Champagne — Picardy — Burgundy — He de France — is fully equipped for the enormous programme, and the astounding de- mands made upon it. The sculptors of the 13th century no longer go for their inspiration to an effete Byzantine ideal, which has ceased to express the genius of the nation, but to nature and truth ; creating a living and truly national art which is one of the glories of the Middle Ages. And Sculpture, like Architecture begins to express the climate — the habits — the social conditions — and the race itself. We now find a period of idealization of nature — an expres- sion of moral sentiments. The figures are human beings such as the sculptors have seen and known — but withal superhuman, the embodiment of moral and religious senti- ments. As for instance the noble warrior in coat-of-mail, reverently receiving the sacrament from the priest — at Rheims. Or the wonderful woman's head — also at Rheims — which brings to one's mind Leonardo's Monna Lisa. With the 14th century, Sculpture changes its character. Religious enthusiasm has lost its fire. Architecture, no longer tentative, is becoming an exact science, not an expression of feeling or sentiment. Sculpture, like paint- ing, is turning by degrees towards a closer expression of reality. Art as a whole is tending to Naturalism. Of this we see signs in the Apostles of the Sainte Ghapelle, Paris ; The Last Judgment, fagade of Bourges ; South Transept, Notre Dame, Paris ; The two transepts, Cathedral of Rouen. Detail is taking the place of synthetic breadth in the modelling of the flesh. " Folds of drapery begin to break. Attitudes lose " their noble simplicity and become angular. But on " the other hand, a more intense truth emphasises the 26 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Oh. II. " faces — the general type has given place to the indi- " vidnal." 1 It is on funeral monuments that this Naturalist evolution is chiefly shown ; and these become of supreme interest. Hitherto, on the tombs of the Eomanesque and pure Gothic periods, the effigies have been absolutely impersonal, except as to the costume and the attributes of their social rank. The type of woman, especially, is charming. But the type of Madonnas, and of Constance d'Arles at St. Denis, or Sainte Ozanne in the Crypt of Jouarre are all one. Now, however, we begin to perceive " l'inquietude du portrait". Accessories become portraits too. And towards the middle of the 14th century, even such figures as those of Christ and the Virgin — hitherto purely ideal — are subjected to what has by this time become a universal law — that of Naturalism. We must now turn to the actual schools of Sculpture in France, and the best examples from which they can be studied. Sculpture must not be looked upon as uniform in its endeavour throughout the whole of France. As I have shown in the Introductory Chapter, each province of France has its own racial and geographic characteristics. And the Architecture and Sculpture of each province displays a char- acter of its own, corresponding in many particulars with the local spirit. In the 11th and 12th centuries no less than eleven different schools of Sculpture can be distinctly traced, namely : — He de France. Burgundy. Languedoc. Poitou and Saintonge. Provence. Normandy. Picardy. Champagne. Auvergne. Perigord. 1 Louis Gonse. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE . 27 The school of Provence, we find — -as was to be expected from its long occupation by the Eomans — strongly affected by Gallo-Boman influence. The ornament is composed of crowds of iconic figures, deeply cut ; of conventional leaves and flowers ; or monsters like those of Norse sculpture, which in turn are of Byzantine origin. Of this Gallo- Eoman influence, the best examples are at Saint- Trophy me, Aries ; The Abbey of Montmajour ; Saint Gilles, Gard ; Sainte- Marthe, Tarascon ; Cathedral, Nimes ; Maison Bomaine, Nimes ; Sainte-Marie, Bouches du Bhone ; Saint-Paul-trois-Chateaux, Drome ; Saint-Pierre de Maguelonne ; Saint- Sauveur, Aix, Bouches du Bhone ; Eglise de Gavaillon, Vaucluse. The school of Languedoc had its centre at Toulouse. But its influence extended north to Mendes and Bodez, east to the banks of the He'rault, south as far as Arragon, west to Bay- onne. From the 11th century this powerful school showed original tendencies. In the 11th century it was distinctly under Byzantine influence. But " it utilized without ser- " vility all that came to it from the Levant ". Examples of this period are Saint- Servin, Toulouse ; Saint-Nazaire, Carcas- sonne ; where the vigorous composition of the capitals should be noted. But in the 12th century, it produced " original " works in which the sentiment of nature appears, and " created compositions of a grandeur of style and arrange- " ment among which the porch of the Church of Moissac " must be mentioned in the front rank ". 1 The Schools of Saintonge and Poitou, though unlike architecturally, must be treated together, as in sculpture they closely resemble each other. In both the Gallo-Boman and Byzantine influences are felt. But a new note is struck — the influence of Saxon Art from the North. The school of Saintonge passes to the north of the Charente — from La Bochelle to Civray, Bochechouart, Angouleme, Montmoreau, cross- ing the riviere de ITsle, the Dordogne, the Garonne, and taking in Medoc. The school of Poitou extends — West and North to Nantes, Cholet, Tours, Satins. East to Nevers, St. Menoux, and Montlucon. South to Ussel, Tulle, and Brives. 1 A. de Baudot. 28 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. The Cathedral at AngouUme and Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, are good examples of these schools — the former of Saintonge, the latter of Poitou. The School of Auvergne extends North to Nevers, East to the Rhone, South to Toulouse, West to Agen, Ussel, Neris and Bourbon VArchambault. " In this province Architecture as- " sumes a truly monumental character. But its sculpture, " in spite of a certain originality and great imagination, " especially in the composition of the Capitals, has no special " value from the plastic point of view." 1 The best examples are the churches of Notre Dame du Port, at Clermont-Ferrand ; of Brioude, Issoire, Saint-Nectaire, Saint-Etienne de Nevers, Chdtel-Montagne, Cathedral du Puy, apse of Saint Martin de Brives, and certain churches in the Correze. The School of Burgundy extended its influence North to Sens, East to Epinal, Besangon, Lausanne, Geneva and Cham- bery, and from Joigny West and South to Cosne, Nevers, Roanne, Belley, and Lyons. In the forceful Burgundian school as in that of Languedoc, we see that the sculptors endeavoured to free themselves from a mere imitation of the past by turn- ing to Nature ; thus giving Sculpture a new impulse and direction. The composition of the capitals at Autun show how superior already this young, healthy art was to that of Provence. And it was destined to progress steadily, and to do much towards the development of the splendid epoque of the 13th century in the Eastern provinces. The best examples of Burgundian Sculpture of the 11th and 12th centuries are to be found in the Churches of Vezelay and Avallon ; Saint Philibert, Dijon ; Sens and Lausanne. The School of lTle de France at the end of the 12th cen- tury was the most powerful of all the schools of France — not only by reason of the great number of its edifices — but because it was, as became the Royal Domain, the most advanced centre in Art. It follows the course of the Eure from Chartres to Pont de VArche. Thence to Dieppe, Beauvais, Saint Quentin, Laon, Chateau Thierry, Provins, Nogent-sur-Seine, Sens, Montargis, Orleans, and makes its influence felt as far as 1 A. de Baudot. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 29 Bourges, Troyes, and Nogent-le-Rotrou. The best examples of this earlier period are — Saint-Germain des Pres, Paris. Saint- Martin des Champs, Paris. Saint-Julien le Pauvre, Paris. Saint-Loup de Naitd. Saint-Denis. The church of Poissy. Saint-Quinace de Provins. Church of Moret. Saint Leu d'Esserant. The School of Normandy, during the Komanesque period of which I have spoken from the architectural stand- point, has little to show in Sculpture. Before the 13th century its ornament is mostly in geometric forms — which cannot be considered of importance in sculpture. The finest examples of this period are — L'Abbaye aux Dames, Caen. L'Abbaye aux Hommes (part), Caen. Saint-Gilles, Caen. Lower part of the Cathedral, Bayeux. Sainte-Marie aux Anglais (nave). Mont St. Michel. Part of the Cathedral, Seez. Saint Georges de Bocherville. Ruins of the Abbey of Jumieges. The Schools of Picardy and Champagne have also no very special characteristics before the 13th century. With the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th cen- tury, during the reign of Philippe-Auguste, the vigorous for- ward movement I have already indicated takes place. And four great Schools of Sculpture detach themselves. 1. Champagne, which is distinguished by force of expres- sion, richness of idea, originality of style. Examples : Warrior and priest, interior of Portal ; Birds, flowers, fruit, on Capitals ; Woman's head, central Doorway ; Man's head — Cathedral, Rheims. 2. Picardy, less brilliant, less expressive than Champagne, is more architectural, understanding better the composi- tion of masses. Examples : Cathedral of Amiens. Frieze of principal doorway, Notre Dame de Noyon. Virgin over the door of the South Transept, Amiens. 3. Burgundy, powerful and energetic in character, with a generous chisel, is enamoured of life and truth, and superior to the other two schools in execution of detail. Examples : Ornaments on facade- of Notre Dame de Dijon. Church of Semur. 4. LTle de France, unites the qualities of the other three schools, while it surpasses them in purity of form and 30 A HISTOEY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. elevation of taste, in elegance and delicacy of execution. Its sculptors show the fullest spirit of observation and invention, as well as the greatest experience. " In their works we find methodical composition — a keen " sentiment of scale, a skilful comprehension of the distri- bution of motives, and above all an astonishing purity of " line and form ; one is amazed at the novelty, the fertility "which is evidenced in conception, as well as the flexibility "and certainty of execution." 1 Examples: Saints on Sainte-Chapelle. Idealized and beautiful portraits. France happily still possesses five perfect cycles, spared from the destruction wrought by human folly and vandalism, in which the sculpture of this period may be studied as a whole. The Facade of Notre Dame, Paris. The Facade of Cathedral, Eheims. The Facade of Cathedral, Bourges. The lateral doorways, Chartres. The facade and Porte doree, Amiens. The latter is the best preserved of all. This, it should be remembered, was what France was doing nearly 200 years before Donatello lived. Therefore in Sculpture, as well as in Architecture, France may fairly claim to have led the way for all Europe. The sculptures in ivory of the late 13th and early 14th centuries are far in advance of those of any other country. For though only a few inches high, such a statuette as the Vierge de la Sainte Chapelle, in the Louvre, is as absolutely perfect in proportion and beauty as the marble statues of 150 years later in Italy. The Louvre and the South Kensington Museum contain many exquisite examples of French ivories of this period. The four great schools of sculpture hold their own through the 13th and 14th centuries. The beginning of the 14th century however, not only brings a change, such as I have indicated above, in the spirit of sculpture, but Art is no longer anonymous. " L 'inquietude du portrait," is accompanied by the appearance of the individual artist. Works are signed. The name of each sculptor of note, and his influence on his school of disciples, becomes known. For a while Art would 1 A. de Baudot. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 31 seem to depend more on the man than on territorial impulse. The evolution of this 14th century art, this realistic portrai- ture, shows itself simultaneously in the North and in the South — in the Cathedral of Bordeaux, and in the Portail des Libraires at Kouen, which both belong to the first years of the 14th century. In the latter we find a surprising example of the new sculpture. In the lovely statues of Saints there is not a trace of hieratic art. They are young and graceful French women, of a purely French type of beauty. The principal examples of 14th century sculpture are : — Champagne. Church of St. Urbain, Troyes. Normandy. Transepts, Cathedral and church of Saint Ouen, Rouen. Parts of the Cathedral, Evreux. Church of St. Jacaues, Dieppe. Limousin. Parts of Cathedral, Limoges. Languedoc. Apse of Saint Nazaire, Carcassonne. Saint Andre, Bordeaux. Dauphine. Saint Maurice, Vienne (doorway). L/yonnais. Cathedral, Lyons (doorway and chapel). Anjou. Church of Evron, choir and transepts. Auvergne. Parts of Cathedral, Clermont-Ferrand. At the end of the 14th century the autonomy of the schools of Sculpture is for awhile effaced. From the beginning of the 15th century to the close of the Gothic period, we find but two schools in France. The Burgundian — now permeated by Flemish influences. And the vast school of the North of France — the actual French Eoyal school, with but slight provincial nuances. For communi- cation grows easier ; and we see a constant movement of artists, and consequent interchange of ideas, between Toulouse, Lyons, Tours, Dijon, Nantes, Paris, Eouen and Flanders. And another factor comes into line. Domestic and state architecture begins to occupy princes and nobles alike. The Chateau is no longer merely a fortress, a strong- hold — hut a dwelling-place to be beautified as well. Much of the art that hitherto has been lavished exclusively on ecclesiastical buildings — on Churches and Abbeys — is now brought to bear on the royal and noble castles. And among 32 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. the principal examples of the 15th century, it is necessary for the first time to mention a number of the Chateaux and Palaces, which, under the Eenaissance, were to form the chief glory of Architecture in France. He de France. In Paris, remains of Chateau Gaillon, at the l£cole des Beaux Arts. Bemains of Hotel de la Tremouille. Parts of the Sainte Chapelle du Palais. Bemains of Hotel de Sens. Hotel de Clunxj. Chateau de la Ferte-Milon. Chateau de Chateaudxm. Berry. Hotel Jacques Cceur, Bourges. Poitou. Palais des Comtes, Poitiers. Picardy. Tower of Choir, and Stalls, Cathedral of Amiens. Saint Biquier (Somme). Saint Wulfran, Abbeville. Languedoc. Stalls, Cathedral of Auch. Stalls, Cathedral of Albi. Champagne. Church of Notre Dame de VEpine. Burgundy. Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon. Parts of the Cathedral, Never s. Normandy. Parts of Church of St. Pierre, Caen. Churches of Saint-Lo and Vitre. Parts of the Church of Saint Ouen, Palais de Justice, Church of Saint Maclou, Bouen. In the 16th century, which belongs to our next chapter, three distinct schools again declare themselves. He de France — Burgundy — and Languedoc, "which have each " produced works of true originality and incontestable " value ". This then was the condition of French Sculpture and Architecture at the beginning of the French Eenaissance. FRENCH SCULPTORS AND THEIR WORKS. Until the end of the 13th century, French Sculpture, as I have said, is anonymous. The first sculptor of any note whose name we know is Jean d'Arras. To him we owe the first Eoyal statue in marble — that of Philippe le Hardi at St. Denis, begun in 1298 or 1299, finished in 1307. This statue is of consider- able importance, as it begins the series of authentic effigies of the Kings of France. It is simple and vigorous in style. ' Pepin de Huy — a "bourgeois de Paris," and " tombier a 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 33 la comtesse Mahaut " — was one of the most popular and prosperous artists of the first part of the 14th century. His most important works are the effigies of 1 Marguerite d'Artois, 1311, St. Denis. Robert d'Artois, 1317, St. Denis. Gomte d'Etampes, 1336, St. Denis. Comte Haymon, Saint Spire, Corbeil. The so-called Blanche de Bretagne, 1341, Louvre. And the so-called Marie d'Avesnes, Louvre. The English invasion caused a break for a quarter of a century in the steady development of sculpture. But we find it flourishing with increasing vigour and life with Andre Beauneveu, of Valenciennes, 1360. He was sculptor, painter, miniaturist and decorator. And his name is one of the most illustrious among the early sculptors who moulded the tendencies of French Art. The first mention of Beauneveu's name is by Froissart, who speaks with admiration of his work at the Castle of Mehun-sur-Yevre. Summoned to Paris from the northern provinces by Charles V. in 1364, he was made " Imagier en titre," and com- missioned to erect the king's tomb, (during his lifetime after the fashion of the day), and those of his predecessors, Jean II. and Philippe de Valois. His realism shows a certain thick set, solid, Flemish heaviness, but also a frankness and authority which give it singular importance. And his in- fluence, together with that of his great contemporary Claux Sluter, was decisive in shaping the course of Franco-Flemish art. His authentic works are Charles V., St. Denis. Jean II., St. Denis. Philippe VI., St. Denis. Philippe VI., Louvre. Charles VI., Chimney-piece in the Palace, Poitiers. Ste. Catherine, Notre Dame, Courtrai. Three other works, in all probability his, are 1 This is a very beautiful and remarkable work. The nobility of ex- pression is only equalled by the extreme beauty and repose of the lines and grace of the draperies. 3 34 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. II. Marie d'Espagne, St. Denis. Jean de Dormans, Louvre. Three Statues of Prophets, Musee de Bourges. Jean de Liege, who had died before 1382, and Jean de Saint-Eomain are both described as "Imagiers de Paris," but no authentic works of theirs are known. To Gui de Dammartin, Premier Architecte-Imagier to Jean due 'de Berry, the three great iconic statues of the chimneypiece in the Palace of Poitiers are attributed. Eobert Loisel, a pupil of Pepin de Huy, is known by the Bertrand du Guesclin, St. Denis, executed between 1389 and 1397. Jean ! de Cambrai was the favourite pupil of Beau- neveu ; and after his 'master's death he succeeded to his place in the favour of that great patron of art, Jean due de Berry. He was a magnificent artist, and one of the strongest individualities in early French Sculpture. His most im- portant works are all to be found at Bourges. M. de Champeaux attributes to him the famous group in painted stone — now in the Cathedral, of Jean due de Berry and Jeanne de Boulogne his wife. Also the statue known as Notre Dame la Blanche, from the altar of the Sainte Chapelle, now in the Musee Cujas ; and the funeral statues at Souvigny. His Virgin of the Gelestins de Marcoussis, now in the Parish Church of that Commune, is; extremely interesting as a realistic portrait of a Berrichonne. But his greatest work is the celebrated Mausoleum of Jean due de Berry, in the crypt of the Cathedral. This the duke planned during his lifetime in imitation of the cenotaph his brother, Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, was erecting to himself in the Chartreuse of Dijon. 1 Jean de Cambrai was charged with the work, which was not finished till 1457, after the Duke's death. The " pleurants," or mourning figures round the tomb, are exceedingly fine. But the interest culminates in the magnificent recumbent figure of the Duke, with a sleepy, muzzled bear at his feet. "L'ourson est delicieux d'esprit " et d'intimite " says Gonse. 1 See Claux Sluter. 1100-1500. ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE. 35 Claux Sluter, though a Fleming or Hollander by birth, must be regarded as a Burgundian sculptor, for all his work centres at Dijon. The date of this great artist's birth is unknown. He died 1404. Here at Dijon, Philippe le Hardi (1342-1404), the first duke of the second line of dukes of Burgundy, gathered about him a group of great artists, wishing to rival what his brothers of Anjou and Berry were doing in Paris and at Bourges. Among these the painter Broederlam of Ypres, and the architect Andre de Dammartin, were charged with the construction and decoration of the great cenotaph of the Duke of Burgundy in the Chartreuse of Champmol at Dijon ; while to Claux Sluter was entrusted the sculpture. The Tomb is now in the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. Besides this, Claux Sluter was charged with the sculpture of the Calvary in the Chartreuse, now known as the Puits de Moise, and the doorway of the Chapel. Of the Calvary only the great hexagonal pedestal or cistern remains, with the noble statues of Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Daniel and Isaiah — the first three sculptured by Claux Sluter, the others by his nephew, Claux de Werwe. But fine as all these are, Claux Sluter's work reaches its highest excellence in the kneeling figures in the doorway of the Chartreuse — duke Philippe — his duchess Marguerite de Flandre — St. John and Ste. Catherine. The superb kneeling figure of the duke can only be compared, it is said, to the Golleone of Verrocchio, the Birague of Germain Pilon, the Voltaire of Houdon, the Monge of Kude. It is interesting to remember that Claux Sluter produced these great works of art when Donatello was but just born,, and a hundred years before Michael Angelo. " The study " of the Classic Antique could not add anything to this force " and strength, which from the point of view of the portrait "—the rendering of the inner life as well as the physical "structure — had attained a level which could not be sur- " passed." 1 Claux Sluter died in 1404. But in 1398, he had sum- moned to aid him in his great work at Dijon, his nephew, 1 Gonse. 36 A HISTOEY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. II. Claux de Werwe, of Hattem. The " pleurants " on the tomb of the Duke of Burgundy are all by de Werwe, with the exception of two by Claux Sluter. Claux de Werwe also appears to have been the sculptor of the Zacharias, Daniel, and Isaiah, on the Puits de Mo'ise. He was the author of the tomb of Jean Sans Peur (1371-1419), son and successor of Duke Philippe le Hardi. He also worked at Semur, Poligny, Saint Be'nigne de Dijon, Baume les Messieurs. These four sculptors — Beauneveu, Jean de Cambrai, Claux Sluter, Claux de Werwe — were, it should be remembered, all northern men. And they mark a great turning-point in French Art. Jacques Morel of Lyons, died 1459. He worked first on the tomb, destroyed in 1562, of Cardinal de Saluces, Lyons. Then at Toulouse, Bodez, Beziers, Avignon, Montpellier. He was called to Souvigny to erect the tombs of Charles I. and his wife Agnes de Bourgogne. The statues in white Salins alabaster still exist; as do two other statues of his in the Chapelle Vieille de Souvigny. It is also thought that he was the author of the memorial Statue of Agnes Sorel, Loches. This was made during her lifetime, between 1440 and 1450. Antoine le Moiturier of Avignon was a pupil of Jacques Morel. In 1469 he completed the tomb of Jean Sans Peur, Dijon, begun by Claux de Werwe. And it is suggested that he was the sculptor of the retable of the Tarasque, Saint- Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence. CHAPTEE III. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. . 1475—1589. The Eenaissance of Art in France is often regarded as some clearly-defined, sudden outburst of Classic Art. — As a move- ment due to the invasion of Italian artists and workmen — to the influx of classical ideas and models — at a given moment. It has been commonly said that art in France had reached a period of senility. And that if it had not been for the timely infusion of new blood from Italy, the worn- out French artistic genius would have wholly disappeared. But those who, free from prejudice and the trammels of tradition, have studied the period with the most complete in- sight and honesty, — those who have not allowed themselves to be blinded by trite, cut-and-dried assertions, which from constant repetition come at last to be accepted as fact,— those who have learnt to appreciate the inherent and persistent vitality of the national genius of France — recognise that the Eenaissance of the 16th century had its beginnings long before ever an Italian artist or workman set foot in France. Throughout the Gothic period of the Middle Ages, such a Eenaissance — an afflatus of new ideas, aims, motives — -an awakening to new life — a desire to make life more beautiful, more perfect — had taken place more than once in France. Boccaccio had come to French Fabliaux for outlines of his stories. Dante attributed the origin of Miniature painting to Paris. And the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries witnessed the great outburst of chivalry and the doctrines of romantic love in Provence — prompting the rough, strong middle age " to seek after the springs of perfect sweet- " ness in the Hellenic world ". (37) 38 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Oh. III. Thus the later Eenaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries, is not, to quote Mr. Pater, " so much the introduction of a " wholly new taste ready-made from Italy, but rather the " finest and subtlest phase of the middle age itself, its last " fleeting splendour and temperate St. Martin's summer ". " For us the^Eenaissance is the name of a many-sided yet " united movement, in which the love of things of the intel- " lect and the imagination for their own sake, the desire for " a more liberal and comely way of conceiving life, make " themselves felt, urging those who experience this desire to " search out first one and then another means of intellectual " or imaginative enjoyment, and directing them not only to " the discovery of old and forgotten sources of this enjoy- " ment, but to the divination of fresh sources thereof — new " experiences, new subjects of poetry, new forms of art." 1 It is towards the end of Louis XL's reign about 1475, that we arrive at the psychologic moment, when the ground has been sufficiently prepared, and the Court of France is ready to acknowledge Italy as arbiter of taste. This is the actual beginning of the period commonly known as the Eenaissance of Art in France — of that great wave of Italian taste and influence which swept over the country, there to be arrested and transmuted by French genius ; sweetening and modifying the harshness and ruggedness of Franco-Flemish Art, without in any degree destroying the national character, the true French ideal, which welcomed the invading influence then, as it has so often done before and since, and bent it to its own uses. This Eenaissance of Art embraces two distinct periods. The first, as I have said, begins at the end of the reign of Louis XL, about 1475. And ends with the death of Francois L, 1547. The second begins with the accession of Henri II. And ends with the assassination of Henri III., in 1589. The first period covers the reigns of Louis XI. (part), Charles VIII., Louis XII., Francois I. The second period those of Henri II., Charles IX., Henri III. 1 Pater. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 39 The movement reaches its high-water mark during the reign of Francois I. And gradually ebbs, after the brilliant epoch under Henri II., until it dies out at the accession of Henri IV., giving place to new ideals, new aims, new methods. And here let us at once note a misapprehension which has obtained the widest belief. Francis I. is generally looked upon as, if not the actual originator of the Renaissance, at all events its strongest patron, on whom it absolutely de- pended for existence. Frederick the Great wrote that Francois I. "created Art in France"! Many others have made assertions almost as loose and incorrect. But the fact is that Art had naturally reached a culminating point. Francois I. merely had the rare good fortune to be reigning at that moment, and to possess the taste and the power to encourage the art of the day, without either initiating, guiding, or controlling it. Many causes had prepared the way for this remarkable movement. For nearly a century France had been gradually becoming better acquainted with her transalpine neighbour. Intercourse between the countries of Europe was growing easier. Ties had been strengthened, and curiosity awakened by Arts of War and Arts of Peace. Among these combining causes, were the conquests cf the House of Anjou. The residence of the Popes at Avignon. The Due de Berry's relations with Italy. The marriage of Louis d'Orleans and Valentiie Visconti, etc., etc. But four causes more especially contributed to bring Italy and Italian Art closer to the knowledge of French artists. 1. The first and chief of these was Jean Foucquet's jour- ney to Italy, 1440-1445. 2. The embassy to Rome of Etienne Chevalier, Argentier to Charles VII. 3 The embassy of De Commines to Florence. 4. The ephemeral reign of King Rene de Provence, in Italy. Jean Foucquet's journey is one of the most important dates in the history of French Art. Foucquet, at that time not 40 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. III. thirty years old, but already chief of the school of Tours, was summoned to Borne to paint the portrait of Pope Eugene IV. And the influence of his sojourn there, upon his own mind and those of his contemporaries, proved to be immense ; as he returned to his native country wholly captivated by the Art and life of Italy. King Rene carried his love of things Italian still further. For he was almost the first to encourage the importation of Italian artists into France. He was in close relations with the Delia Eobbias ; and attached the sculptor Francesco Laurana to his person. And here we find a curious evidence of the vigour and individuality of the French spirit. While Foucquet endeavours, but in vain — for he remains French to the end — to Italianize himself, Laurana is strongly influenced by French forms ; as may be seen in the cenotaph to King Rene's brother, the Comte de Maine, at Le Mans. The work thus begun, was completed by Charles VIII. 's Italian campaign. The Court was now fascinated and en- chanted by Italian luxury — by the riches, the irt, the elegance and refinement of living they found in Florence, Milan, Rome, Naples. Charles VIII. summoned a crowd of sculptors and decorators from Italy — Guido Manzoni of Modena among them ; and Jerome de Fiesole, who de- corated Amboise which became a sumptuous museum of Italian Art. Under Louis XII. the Italian influence grows stronger. The King orders at Genoa the splendid tomb for St. Denis, in memory of Louis d'Orleans and Valentine Visconti The nobles follow suit. Raoul de Launoy, Governor of G-enoa, orders from Delia Porta, the sumptuous tomb now in the Church of Folleville (Somme). Briconnet has Italians to decorate his Hotel d'Alluye at Blois. So has Lallemand at Bourges. And when Georges d'Amboise, the famous minister of Louis XII., builds Chateau Gaillon, he engages " ornemantistes italiens " to work under the direction of his French architect, Pierre Fain. The continual and increasing intercourse between France and Italy is now not merely that of individuals. The whole 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 41 army and noblesse of France under Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francois I., overflow Italy ; and come back laden not only with material spoils, but with those far more precious spoils of the intelligence — with Italian ideas and examples of life and living, which respond to the growing desires of the French for a fuller, more refined, more beautiful conduct of existence. Italy looked on life as a work of art. To the natural gifts of the country, adored by the Classics, light, space, shade, water, flowers, she now added the splendours of modern civilization — riches, luxury — the pleasures of a re- fined and highly cultivated society. And in this gracious setting she placed "the complete man". His body, no longer despised as in the gloomier Middle Ages, when the human frame was contemned — fit only for constant morti- fication, to be kept under as a thing vile, hateful, and of no account — but now trained with deliberate intention to the utmost perfection of form and strength. His soul and his mind perfected also in their fullest development — enriched by the experience of all possible sides of existence. Man, with rights to realize his own ideals and ends — the right to be and to enjoy, in the highest attainable degree. Man, ex- panding into a richness of being in his three supreme powers — action, understanding, feeling. In France this perfected ideal of life was eagerly assimi- lated. And it quickly showed its results in Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, as well as literature. A natural dainti- ness of hand — " netteU d' 'execution " — has always been a characteristic of French Art. And as Mr. Pater has pointed out, we find this exemplified to the full in the works of the Renaissance. In the silvery colour and clearness of expres- sion in Clouet's paintings, as distinct from the greater solidity of the great Flemings, Memling and the Van Eycks. In Villon's poetry, and the Hours of Anne of Brittany. In the beauty of carvings and traceries with which the strong, even heavy Gothic forms were now overlaid. In the Chateau de Gaillon — "a Gothic donjon veiled " faintly by a surface of delicate Italian traeeries " 1 we 1 Pater. 42 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. III. find a key to the whole matter. The ponderous mass is softened and beautified by the exquisite taste of those who now demanded what was refined, what was graceful. Through the Middle Ages, France had been broken up into many states — Kingdoms within the Kingdom — of which the powerful princes and nobles had been almost — in some cases completely — independent sovereigns, only owing fealty to the King, as vassals to the Suzerain. Art, as I have shown, was in a parallel condition, consisting of many independent and indigenous schools. But by degrees these separate states politic, and separate schools artistic, had been slowly welded together, and centralized after the fashion of all things French. " The King was at last King, and his " Court took the initiative both in politics and art," as Lady Dilke admirably says. It is therefore to the Court that we must look henceforth, as the centre of artistic movement. During the reigns of Louis XL, Charles VIII., and Louis XII., the Court was not in Paris, but at Tours. And thus Touraine and the course of the Loire becomes the head- quarters of the early Eenaissance and the Italian movement. With Francois I. the Court is transferred to Paris. And the centre of artistic activity moves with it. It is in Touraine, under the pressure of Italian influences, that we find an artistic phenomenon of the highest impor- tance. M. Courajod has happily defined this, as "la detente " du style Franco-Flamand ". " To the ruggedness, the " harshness of the Burgundian School, in which all the " endeavours of the 14th century are summed up, a sort of " tender languor succeeds — a milder, amended interpretation " of nature, a kind of sobriety, of calm and discreet emotion, " a pre-occupation with elegance and distinction which are " to be the mark of the period." 1 Two men stand pre-eminent in influence in the impulse now given to French Art. Jean Perreal and Michel Colombe. Jean Perreal of Lyons was the principal instrument of the vogue for things Italian — " the chief, who at the head of the " men of the south, led the assault on French liberties with 1 Gonse. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 43 " the greatest ardour ". He was one of those universal geniuses, " l'homme a tout faire, l'homme a la mode," who is almost as disconcerting to posterity as Jean Cousin. For like Jean Cousin, he left an immense reputation, without any one typical work surviving which justifies his fame. He was in turn painter, sculptor, architect, poet, decorator, miniaturist, or verrier. As hardly more than a youth, we find him indispensable to the City of Lyons in organising the splendid receptions and public entries of Cardinal, King, or Queen. And from 1494 he entered the Eoyal service, ac- companying successive Kings in their Italian campaigns, and bringing back to Tours and to Paris fresh inspirations for every branch of Art. While the restless, clever, ambitious Perreal — " nostre second Zeusis ou Apelles en painture " — closely attached to the Court, was bringing all his powers to bear on the introduc- tion of Italian ideas, a remarkable development in sculpture was taking place in Touraine. During the reign of Charles VIII. Italian influence is shown simultaneously in the sculpture of Poitou, Gascony, Forez, the Lyonnais, Bur- gundy, etc. But under Louis XII., these isolated efforts are dominated by the school of Tours. And Michel Colombe's influence makes itself felt all through French Sculpture. The school of Tours under Michel Colombe is the result of the fusion of North and South. It was the school of Tours which established the formulas of the new ideal. And the works of Michel Colombe are its most charming and most significant manifestation. Michel Colombe is one of the great figures of France. Born in Brittany, his origin and his education were Gothic. In his youth he travelled, and studied the works of the great Flemish-Burgundians. Penetrated with memories of Jean de Cambrai, Claux Sluter, De Werwe, Le Moiturier, and Jacques Morel he returned to Tours. And in the very centre of Italian influence, he set to work to apply what he had learnt from the strong and rugged old masters. The result is a singularly beautiful and interesting one. In his' work we see the loftiest and strongest qualities of Gothic work, combined 44 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. III. with the new sensations supplied by the Renaissance. In the prodigious group — the Saint Septdcre, in the Church of Solesmes, we are instantly reminded of Sluter, of Jean de Cambrai, of Beauneveu. While at the same moment delicate arabesques speak to us of Italy. The famous Saint-George from Chateau Gaillon, (now in the Louvre) is perhaps the most perfect example of this fusion. Saint George alone is Italian. All the rest is purely French — the landscape, the trees, the Princesse Lydie, who is a young French girl in dress and type. While the Dragon is the Tarasque of the Cathedral of Aix. 1 In these works of Michel Colombe's — and still more when the Renaissance has full sway under Francois I. — we find that the innovators, such as Jean Perreal, bring all their forces to bear on 'ornament ; while statuary remains almost untouched by Italian feeling. In the first period of the Renaissance, architectural forms remain French, while the decoration " s'enguirlande a lTtalienne ". For the first agent of transmission of Italian Art throughout Europe, is orna- ment borrowed from the antique, and introduced through the commerce of furniture, dress and personal adornments. The base of the structure remains solidly Gothic. The clothing of the structure, by means of classic arabesque, alone becomes Italian. This is to be seen in all the buildings of the time of Louis XII. and Francois I., at Blois, Orleans, Chambord, Azay le Rideau, St. Germain, Chateau de Madrid, etc. Gothic ornament, elaborated by the genius of the French race "with such marvellous intuition, such logical perfection, " such entire originality," is alone attacked by the great current of Italian influence. Statuary, whose object is the human figure, especially statuary of an iconic character, remains almost untouched by foreign ideals. One of the most remarkable instances of this is the monument of De Commines (now in the Louvre). Here the effigies are purely French. The ornaments are distinctly Italian — in 1 A letter to Perreal, 1511, shows that Michel Colombe was born about 1430. Besides the works mentioned, he was author of the famous tomb of Francois II. of Brittany at Nantes. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 45 the style of those by Jerome de Fiesole at Solesmes, and the tomb of the Children of Charles VIII. at Tours. After Michel Colombe's death in 1512, there was a pause in French Sculpture. The Franco-Flemish tendencies were completely exhausted. Sculpture under Francois I. became essentially architectural and ornamental. " Of the ideas, " sentiments, methods, of the sublime Middle Ages, still alive " at the death of Michel Colombe, nothing remains but vague " reminiscence. The spirit of antiquity triumphs without "hindrance." 1 The evolution of the Italian and classical ideal, begun under Charles VIII., touches its apogee. France was now overrun by an army of Italian artists, who, with Andrea del Sarto, found profitable as well as appreciative patronage " In that humane great monarch's golden look " One finger in his beard or twisted curl " Over his mouth's good mark that made the smile, " One arm about my shoulder, round my neck, " The jingle of his gold chain in my ear, " I painting proudly with his breath on me, " All his Court round him, seeing with his eyes, " Such frank French eyes, and such a fire of souls " Profuse, my hand kept plying by those hearts." The great Leonardo da Vinci was getting his 700 crowns at Tours. Primaticcio and Rosso were painting at Fontainebleau. And that delightful swashbuckler of genius, Benvenuto Cellini, was making his immortal silver and bronze statuettes, his golden bowls and salt cellars, in the Petit Nesle for his Sacred Majesty — abusing the architec- ture of the door at Fontainebleau, "in their vicious French " style " ; and designing the great fountain which makes the King exclaim in a strong voice, "Verily, I have found a man " here after my own heart ". Under the tremendous pressure of this wave of foreign and classic influence, we ask, will it be possible for France to discover the elements of a new, expressive, homogeneous Art — to give proof once more of her ever-fertile, living, national spirit. This is the noble task to which the great 1 Gonse. 46 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. III. artists of the reign of Henri II. are about to apply themselves. We now see how the national genius once more asserts itself. How the permanent instincts of the French race triumph over formulas which seemed destined to crush them for ever. How in painting, sculpture, and architecture, French Art, as I have said, merely takes what suits its own genius from the foreign invaders, and remains absolutely true to its own ideals. Of painting of the Eenaissance, I must speak in another chapter. It is in portraiture that French Sculpture found its safe- guard against the most violent attacks of ultramontanism. In portraiture the French genius has always taken refuge, and has found strength, counsel, and inspiration. And portraits of the Eenaissance remain in essence absolutely French, even when they endeavour to be Italian. The bust of Dordet de Montal (Louvre) — the effigy of Guillaume de Bochefort (Beaux Arts) — and many more anonymous portrait busts, tell us that the French spirit was not dead. It was but pausing. Feeling its way. Preparing for some fresh effort. When the time is ripe, the new ideal springs into life in strange perfection. One of the most brilliant epoques of French sculpture now dawns. And its most absolute ex- pression is found in the works of Jean Goujon. The sculptor of the 16th century was still, as he had been in the Middle Ag workman, taking orders from his employer the architect. And at first we find Goujon employed at Eouen Cathedral and Saint-Maclou, for designs of the doors and fountain. Then, leaving Eouen, he joins the band of distinguished men who were restoring St. Germain l'Auxerrois in Paris, under the direction of Pierre Lescot. But he soon ceased to work for the Church. For it was the Court which now occupied the position, so long and so splendidly filled by the Church, as patron of art. " The " development of secular magnificence eclipsed the brilliance " of ecclesiastical splendour." 1 Instead of churches, palaces were now built. And every resource of Art was brought to 1 Lady Dilke. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 47 bear on these superb dwellings, by an army of artists — sculptors, painters, verriers, enamellers, tapestry and metal workers, under the supreme direction of such architects as Bastien Francois, Le Nepveu, Philibert de l'Orme, Bullant, and Pierre Lescot, aided by such sculptors as Goujon, Ger- main Pilon, Barthelemy Prieur, etc. During the second period of the Benaissance, from the death of Francois I. to that of Henri III., the Gothic form of Architecture gradually disappears, with the last semblance of defence in the Chateaux. We see in its place, the perfecting of that singular adaptation of classical styles to the require- ments of the country, from which the great architects of the 16th century evolved such conceptions as Chambord and Azay le Rideau, Anet and Ecouen, the Louvre and the Tuileries. Society is now growing more complex and more luxurious. The Chateau is no longer the Chateau-fort — the place of defence : but the splendid country-house or palace, in which each great noble gathers a little court about him, as does the King with a larger court. A palace in which there must be space and room, and rooms in which each can live their own life, as well as the life of society — in which they can surround themselves with precious possessions, with works of art, books, pictures, costly hangings and ornaments. And in these palaces each princely personage — Duke or Cardinal — Count or Constable — has his own lesser train of poets, painters, sculptors, architects, attached to his person, as has the King on a larger scale. This period, therefore, sees the complete transition from the Maison forte, to the Maison de plaisa?ice. The indications of this transition can be traced from the middle of the 15th century. At Langeais, Lady Dilke has pointed out that in a fortress of the Middle Ages we ; find the first sign of the coming change. The interior battlements of the court are replaced by a cornice. While at Chenonceau, Azay le Rideau, Blois, Chambord, the cornice replaces the outside battlements ; and " its bold projecting " lines encircle each building with a crown ". 1 1 Lady Dilke. 48 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. III. The French instinct for line and order now asserts itself afresh. The dormers are grouped symmetrically. The croise'es are arranged one above the other. " Not only do all " openings at irregular intervals disappear before the growing " exigencies of an instinct which marshals even the smallest " details into fitting place within an ordained framework of " well-considered lines, but gradually all these openings are " so placed as to give the perpendicular lines of the general " design." 1 At Chenonceau, in the first year of the reign of Francois L, we get the earlier form of the Chateau. The idea of defence is not yet wholly abandoned. But the walls and moats are a mere pretence, enclosing nothing but gardens and courts. Ten years later at Chambord, the Gothic form is still maintained in the structure. " Late Gothic caprice and " fantastic love of the unforeseen rule triumphant." But the ornament belongs to the Renaissance. And in the interior, galleries, passages, numbers of smaller rooms as well as halls of state, testify to the complete change of architectural arrange- ment, to meet the exigencies of this complex and pleasure- loving society. At Azay le Bideau, all pretence of defence has been abandoned. The entrance is a lofty portal richly carved,, as is the superb staircase it supports. Francois I.'s sala- mander, and Claude of Brittany's ermine, decorate the frieze ; and the arcade which connects the ground floor and upper storeys, is exquisite with arabesques of the highest beauty. At the Chateau de Longchamps, or Madrid, in the Bois de Boulogne, of which nothing alas ! remains but drawings and plans, as it was completely destroyed at the Revolution — we find the actual Maison de plaisance. Its covered galleries, its secret chambers, its great garde robes for armour, and weapons, and jewels, and the thirty suits that every self-respecting courtier must possess, its enamelled tiles, friezes, medallions, by no less an artist than Girolamo della Robbia — all fitted solely for the gay luxury of Francois I. and his Court. Though built by Italian workmen, Madrid 1 Lady Dilke. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 49 is an example of the " controlling force of French taste ". It is not, as might naturally have been expected, an Italian Palace, but a French summer country-house. And it shows in a noteworthy manner how France seized upon Italian ideas, transmuted them by the inherent nationality of her art, and produced a purely French result. With Ecouen and Anet, the Tuileries and the Louvre, we reach the full expression of the second period of the French Eenaissance. At Ecouen, Jean Bullant, in building it for the Connetable Anne de Montmorency, has given us an historical document of the highest interest. For it shows more than any other French Chateau, the final departure from the Gothic traditions. The deep fosse on three sides is a reminiscence it is true, of defence. But that is merely a fanciful detail, a complimentary allusion to the profession of the rough and violent Constable, and is not maintained by the rest of the building. The lavish use of pillar and pilaster — the portal covered with rich decoration, with Doric and Ionic columns and arcades, all crowned by the great statue of the Constable riding aloft above the entrance—" the " exuberant profusion of creeping ornament which over- " flows the bordering lines of every frieze," 1 all show us that a new era has dawned. While at Anet we find the supreme example of the French Summer Palace. The Chateau was built by Philibert de l'Orme for Diane de Poitiers. She was able easily to pay for it out of the " paulette," 2 which had been presented to her by Henri II. on his accession ; and the work was pushed forward and finished in an in- credibly short time. It occupied three sides of a square, the fourth being filled by the elaborate gateway and its accessories, with Acteon and his hounds above it. Colon- nades, galleries, and a terrace give dignity to the elevation. And round about, enclosed in walls, are immense gardens and courts, in one of which, high above the waters of a fountain, Diana herself in the guise of the goddess her name- 1 Lady Dilke. 2 The yearly tax for the renewal of their patents, paid by the officers of Justice and Finance into the Royal Exchequer. 4 50 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. HI. sake, reposes with her stag and her dogs, immortalised by the chisel of Jean Goujon. The Court having been transferred from Touraine to Paris, the later years of Francois I. and the reign of Henri II., show increased activity and occupation with regard to the Eoyal residences of the capital. Besides building the Chateau de Longchamps, Francois I. put Fontainebleau into the hands of Eosso and Primaticcio. And in 1546 he appointed Pierre Lescot as director of the works at the Louvre. " In the Louvre Lescot shaped and perfected the Palace of the town." " II sut marquer de l'empreinte de son genie les inspira- " tions de l'architecture classique, par l'heureuse harmonie " et la proportion sagement equilibree des ordres corinthien " et composite superposes, par la saillie des avant-corps qui " rompent la monotonie des lignes, par la creation au-dessus " de l'attique;d'une crete ornee de festons du milieu desquels " s'elancent des pots a fleur. L'attique avec ses frontons " semi-circulaires et ses fenetres accompagnees de trophees " superbes, etait peut-etre trop riche, et decore de figures trop " grandes ; mais telle qu'elle existe encore, entre le Pavilion " de l'Horloge et le corps de logis meridional, la facade de " Pierre Lescot, apres avoir perdu quelques-uns des orne- " ments superflus de son couronnement, est a coup sur un " des chefs-d'ceuvres de l'art francais." 1 The west wing with the square block at the S.W. angle— the only bit remaining of the old Louvre of Philippe-Auguste— was finished, and the south wing was begun, before the death of Henri II. And in spite of additions, extensions, and alterations in after times, each succeeding architect has been obliged to conform more or less to the splendid plan which Lescot conceived, while his own portion remains unrivalled in its beauty and originality. In 1564 another great palace close by the Louvre was begun. The Queen-Mother, Catherine de Medicis, recalled Philibert de l'Orme, the builder of Anet, who for five years 1 Babeau. 1475-1589. THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE. 51 had been in disgrace. And in May the foundations were laid of the Palace of the Tuileries. De l'Orme must have been considerably hampered in this work. For Catherine, who prided herself on her knowledge of Architecture, not only closely superintended the work, but made working drawings for the building. In the original plans of the Tuileries, the colonnade, which supports a terrace on a level with the first storey, recalls the elevation of Anet. These show not only the single line of building, but a large group, with minor courts round a central court. The central pavilion, remark- able for an enchanting spiral staircase, and its wings, were alone finished in de l'Orme's lifetime. And in spite of the extravagances of ornament which Catherine endeavoured to force on her architect, the building has the dignity we find in all good Eenaissance work. The Palace, however, was un- fortunate from the beginning. At de l'Orme's death in 1570, Bullant succeeded to his various appointments, and carried on the work at the Tuileries. He added the two pavilions on the North and South, and broke up the front with numberless columns, deep cut niches, and a wealth of elaborate detail of ornament in every possible place. And although de l'Orme's central pavilion and its wings were completely re-fashioned under Louis XIV., and the spiral staircase destroyed, Bullant's pavilions remained almost un- touched in all their beauty, until the Commune of 1871. With the Tuileries and the Louvre we near the end of the Eenaissance. The great wave that had flooded France with love of the beautiful, with the desire for a comely and liberal manner of living, with enthusiasm for things of the intellect, had spent its force. When Lescot died in 1578, the spirit of the Eenaissance was dying too. But in the hundred years that spirit held sway in the fair land of France, it had ac- complished its work. The teaching of the Humanists had changed the aspect of life for all and each. Modern civili- zation was an established fact. CHAPTEE IV. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. When within the space of comparatively few years, a vast change takes place in the art of a nation— an apparent cleavage wide and deep — experience teaches us that the change is not as rapid as it seems, but has come about by degrees from many causes. Patient and temperate observa- tion shows us links that maintain the reasonable continuity of thought. We discover that the chain is never broken— the gulf always bridged. Humanity sweeps onward cease- lessly along the road that leads now to some more perfect, more gracious halting place, now through some arid waste, now into a confused and misty valley, now to the purity and severity of lofty heights. But onwards it sweeps always. The transition is gradual. The gardens of the house-beauti- ful merge gradually into the waste. The waste sinks gently into the misty valley with its manifold purpose. The valley rises by slow and imperceptible degrees to the lofty height. There is no sharp cut, arbitrary line that divides the one from the other. If we will but search patiently, we are certain to find the bridge that leads from one apparently clear cut group or impulse to the next. No two ideals in art could seem farther apart — separated by a more absolute cleavage — than Gothic and Eenaissance Architecture. Yet one of the most deeply interesting pheno- mena I know, is the connecting link between the two periods, supplied by the Architecture of the reign of Louis XII. Three examples will suffice to show how perfectly it unites the spirit and genius of both— how closely the two are knit together by this transition period. The first example is the Fagade of the Chateau of Blois, built in 1501. Here, in the great 13th century Hall, we get (52) 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 53 an example of pure and stately Gothic. And in the magni- ficent north wing of Francois I. an unsurpassed example of the richest Eenaissance. The Facade of the Eastern Wing, by which the Chateau is entered, only faintly suggests the coming change by its square-headed windows under crocketted and pinnacled Gothic dormers. On the inner face of the wing, the Eenaissance is more clearly shown. The arcade through which the courtyard is entered is composed of round pillars encrusted with fleur-de-lys and ermines' tails in a stone network, alternating with others of four Eenais- sance panels set on cornerwise — not four square — supporting flattened arches of the familiar " anse de panier " type of the period. It takes but a moment's thought to see that this arcade is the link between the Gothic dormers of the Facade, and all the marvels of the Northern Wing. The second example is the north-west tower of the Cathe- dral of Chartres. Begun in 1506 by Jean Texier under the patronage of Louis XII., who contributed largely to the ex- pense, it was finished in 1513. At first sight it seems of purely Gothic type, with pointed windows, crocketted pin- nacles, flying buttresses, and rich Gothic niches with trefoil- headed canopies and bases, supported perhaps by a delicate pilaster with simple early Gothic capital and square abacus. Then suddenly one comes upon a little balcony on an exterior stairway, panelled with superb Eenaissance sculp- ture in vigorous low relief— a Classic patch, so to speak, among the mass of Gothic work, that would not be out of place in Venice or even in Eome. There is nothing that jars in this great tower and spire. The transition is so natural and gradual that it harmonizes absolutely with that triumph of pure 12th century Gothic— the six-storeyed south-west tower with its imbricated stone steeple, and with the wonderful body of the noble 13th century building. The third example is the Palais de Justice at Rouen. Built under Louis XII., it is a most interesting specimen of the richest late Gothic architecture, with its carved square- headed windows, its huge gargoyles at the roof line, its rich pinnacled balustrade with panels of roses, crocketted arches 54 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. IV. and fine detached figures. The lofty dormers against the high-pitched roofs are set in a lacework of stone — pinnacles, niches, fleur-de-lys, with figures everywhere, in the tympa- num of the windows, in niches on the pinnacles ; and among all the Gothic wealth of ornament, the coming change that found voice a few years later in the sculptures of the Hotel Bourgtheroulde hard by, is suggested by these dainty figures on each side of the dormers, that remind one of the little loves on the dormers and chimneys of Chambord, and by the rose panels of the balustrade. Far on into the 16th century, into the very heart of the Ee- naissance, this persistence of the Gothic type is still found- chiefly, it is true, in ecclesiastical buildings. The Church of Saint-Eustache, in Paris, begun in 1532, a Gothic Church with classical details, is an example. So is Samt-Etienne du Mont, Paris. And the Choir Screen at Chartres, begun by Jean Texier in 1514, and finished in the 17th century. But with regard to domestic architecture, the new ideals of the Benaissance had full sway with the accession of Francois I. in 1515. In all the buildings of the Benaissance three portions claim special attention. The roof, the staircase, the chimney- pieces. The rest of the building may be plain, almost stern inside. But on the roof without— the staircase and monu- mental mantelpieces within— the architect seems to concen- trate all his efforts. He lavishes on them not only a wealth of ornament, but allows his imagination to run riot in the most original and fantastic arrangement. Of the roof of Chambord, I will speak in its own place. But the marvel of the Chateau is its famous double spiral staircase, connected at each floor with the four great Salles des Gardes, and crowned outside by the superb lantern. At Blois, the magnificence of the celebrated outside staircase surpasses all else in that most beautiful of royal Chateaux. At Amboise, the spiral staircases are put to a most original use. They are huge, brick-paved stairways, mounting by a gentle slope inside two immense round towers ; enabling the King and his guests to ride their horses from the entrance on 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 55 the river level to the living rooms of the palace on the top of the cliff. At Chenonceaux, we get one of the first of the straight staircases in the wall with a waggon roof, of the same type as the Escalier Henri II. of the Louvre, medallions at the crossing of the ribs bearing portrait heads. The same plan is followed at Azay le Kideau : but the ornament is infinitely richer. Here pendants hang at the intersection of the ribs, while the spaces between are filled with medallions and portraits, ermines, salamanders and little loves. These straight, waggon-roofed staircases may be best described as passages of steps — narrow for their height — mounting in two straight nights, with a landing between each floor. The open Escalier d'Honneur of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. was then practically unknown. The magnificent mantelpieces are a most important fea- ture of Renaissance buildings. That of the Salle de Diane de Poitiers at Chenonceaux, is a perfect specimen of the earlier period of the Renaissance. So are one or two at Blois. The well-known Cheminee de Villeroy, by Germain Pilon, in the Louvre — of which the South Kensington Museum 1 possesses a fine cast, is an example of the later half of the Eenaissance. So are two by Hugues Lallemant, now at Cluny — with pillars or caryatides on either side of the fire- place, and fine bas-reliefs above surrounded by genii sup- porting trophies of arms, Cupids, dolphins, etc. But every Chateau and Palace of the period affords many splendid specimens, elaborations of the earlier plain Gothic type. Pieeee le Nepveu, dit Teinqueau (b. Amboise; d. 1538), — builder of Chambord and Chenonceaux, was a proprietor in Amboise in 1490, and was still living there in 1508, when it is supposed that he worked on the Chateau under the orders of Pierre Martin. Louis XII. employed him at Blois. And it has been commonly supposed that he built the Chapel and the Facade. The difference of style, however, between this 1 The South Kensington Museum also has other specimens of mantel- pieces of the same period. 56 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. IV. facade and that of Chambord and Chenonceaux is so great, that as M. Bauchal points out it is difficult to attribute the work to him. In 1513 he was entrusted by Thomas Bohier and his wife Catherine Briconnet, with the building of Chenonceaux, upon which he worked till 1525. And in 1526 Francois I. confided to him, and to Anthoine de Troyes, the reconstruction of Chambord, which until then was merely a Chateau-fort in the flat country. The first plans for this magnificent Chateau were made by Domenico da Cortona, who received " 900 " livres tournois de gratification " from the King, for work done, and " patterns and models in wood, as much for the cities " and chateaux of Tournai and Andres as for the Chateau "of Chambord". 1 To Le Nepveu, however, the central staircase — the most original and decorative portion of the building — is certainly due. It does not appear in Domenico's model, which was to be seen at Blois in Felibien's time. In 1536 Anthoine de Troyes became contractor for the work of the pavilions and square towers ; Le Nepveu remaining sole master of the building. He is spoken of in this year as " honneste homme Pierre Nepveu dit Trinqueau, maistre de " l'oeuvre de Maconnerie du batiment du Chatel de Cham- "bord". He died in 1538. And was succeeded by Jacques Coqueau or Coquereau. In Chambord, despite the fantastic exuberance of detail which at first is absolutely bewildering, a little study soon shows an underlying unity of purpose, which could only have come from one mind, and that the mind of a master. The towers and pavilions of this well-known Chateau are round. It is in fact a massive Gothic castle. The original plan was the central mass with four towers, measuring 220 feet each way, on the north side of an enormous square court surrounded by buildings. This court was to have four huge round towers, the outside measurement being 520 feet by 390. Two of them are standing, and form parts of the wing of Francois I. and that of Henri II., which are joined by galleries to the central mass. On the south side of the 1 Compte des Batiments du Roi. 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OP THE RENAISSANCE. 57 court, rebuilt by Louis XIV., the bases only of the two corner towers exist, finished by a platform and connected by a long range of one-storey buildings. On the body of the building the Renaissance is shown by square pilasters of the Corinthian order, slightly raised from the surface, with capitals in low relief, dividing the whole into an infinite num- ber of equal panels. Some of these are filled with lofty win- dows. Others are left plain. The string courses that divide the three storeys are so subdued as hardly to break the surface of the central mass. But the moment we reach the cornice, the wealth of ornament and fantastic caprice begins. Carved brackets support a frieze of shell pattern and deep mouldings, surmounted by the balustrade which forms a wide gallery round the whole central building. Behind the balustrade a flat stone wall runs up some ten feet. And from this rise the great grey slate roofs. Double-storeyed dormers break up through the wall at intervals ; and superb two-storeyed chim- neys hanging out on rich and beautiful corbels, shoot high aloft, the white stone of the upper part — above pilasters, and shell- headed niches and a wealth of carved flambeaux — ornamented with rounds, lozenges, or zigzags of black marble or slate. The roof rises over each of the four great towers in a cone surmounted by a cupola ; and in square pyramidal masses over the rest. While the crowning marvel of the whole is the " lantern " in the centre, over the great central staircase. This lantern is almost entirely open-work — tier upon tier of arches, pillars, flying buttresses with enormous cartouches of the salamander, domed cupolas one upon the other supported by light and graceful pillars, each one growing lighter and more airy, till the last is crowned by the huge six-foot stone fleur-de-lys against the sky. Besides the lofty two-storeyed dormers, and the bewilder- ing forest of chimneys, " which are more ornamented and " more ornamental than in any building erected either " before or since," 1 the roofs are still further broken by graceful tourelles which spring from the side of the masses nearest the lantern, each finished with a cupola surmounted 1 Pergusson. 58 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. IV. by a lovely little figure on a high pedestal. The chimneys and dormers are crested with fleurs-de-lys, like foam on a breaking, wave. While in the wing of Francois I. armies of little loves replace the fleur-de-lys, on the crest of the dormers and chimneys of the gallery joining the wing to the central building. And the dome of the Escalier Francois I. (one of fifty-two staircases in the Chateau) in the angle of the court- yard, is surrounded with a perfect garland of fleurs-de-lys and salamanders, with caryatides below. Chenonceaux — also the work of Le Nepveu — is on a very different scale. Here we find the exquisite Maison de plai- sance. Built by a woman, Catherine Briconnet, while her husband, Thomas Bohier, general des Finances, was superin- tending the King's finances during the Italian campaigns — Chenonceaux has been a favourite residence of distinguished women, of Queens, and royal favourites. Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medicis, Queen Louise, Gabrielle d'Estrees, the Duchesse de Mercosur, were in possession of this coveted Chateau in rapid succession. While in the 18th century Mme. Dupin gave it fresh fame by the brilliant society she gathered about her ; and Kousseau's " Devin du Village " was performed for the first time in the long gallery across the Cher. The first impression of Chenonceaux is one of disappoint- ment. The whole thing is so small ; and the effect is spoilt on approaching the entrance, by the great isolated round tower, built in the 15th century by Jean Marques on the river's bank beside his mill. This not only dwarfs the building, but is confusing at first to the spectator. Seen, however, from the glowing garden on the riverside, we find that the building is really a tiny square Chateau, built right out into the river on the foundations of the ancient mill whose piles were driven into the solid rock, and joined to the farther bank of the Cher by a five-arched bridge, bearing Philibert de l'Orme's three-storeyed gallery. The Chateau actually blocks the river, which runs through the five arches of the bridge, and the great water arch under the Chateau proper in which the mill wheel was placed, besides the two 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 59 smaller ones of the drawbridges, which served to break the force of the current. The little Chateau has four tourelles at the corners with extinguisher tops, finished with lofty and delicate lead ornaments. It is three windows wide on each side ; and two storeys high to the cornice, which, instead of forming a balcony is an attic of flat pilasters, in relief, but not detached from the wall, with richly carved leaf brackets and cartouches below. With the roof come three dormers — the centre one being two-storeyed, with candelabra ornaments tossed high aloft. The gallery is the least interesting part of the building. And it is now disfigured inside with decora- tions in the worst taste, carried out during the possession of Mme. Pelouze and her brother M. Daniel Wilson. I have described these Chateaux at some length, because it is important to get a tolerably distinct idea of the com- plete change that had come over the dwelling-places of France with the beginning of the 16th century. Pierre Lescot (6. 1515? d. 1578), — builder of the Louvre, was a gentleman born. His family were " gens de robe ". And he himself was Seigneur de Clagny, near Versailles; by which title he is generally spoken of. Ronsard in apostrophising " Toy, L'Ecot, dont le nom jusques aux astres vole," says : — " Car bien que tu sois noble et de coeur et de race " Bien que des le berceau l'abondance te face " Sans en chercber ailleurs "... tes premiers regens n'ont jamais pu distraire " Ton cceur et ton instinct pour suivre le contraire." It is known that he travelled in Italy. But until 1541 we do not find his name mentioned as the author of any special work. In this year he first comes into public notice. The Church of St. Germain 1'Auxerrois in Paris was being restored. Lescot furnished designs for the Jube or Screen, and undertook its construction ; Jean Goujon executing the sculptures upon it, of which some are now in the Louvre. In 1546 Lescot was taken into royal service. Francois I. "l'aima par dessus tout," says Ronsard; and now pre- ferred him to the Italian Serlio, who arrived in France in 1541, and even to Bullant and de l'Orme. The King, not 60 A HISTOEY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. IV. content with his favourite Palace of Fontainebleau, and his Chateaux of Chambord, and of Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne, now determined to outdo the magnificence of Ecouen by a palace in Paris. During the absence of the Court at Tours, under Charles VIII. and Louis XII, the Louvre had been almost deserted, or used under the latter King as an Arsenal. In 1527 Francois I. had already begun operations by destroying the great tower of the Louvre, which was too Gothic and too sombre for the dainty spirits of the Kenaissance. But, occupied as he was with other projects, little was accomplished beyond the necessary repairs, until Charles V.'s visit in 1540; when the old fortress was made gorgeous for a time with hangings and decorations, and its extreme unsuitability to modern requirements became evident. At last, however, the moment arrived for its reconstruction. And on Aug. 2, 1546, the King gave orders to Pierre Lescot for " un grand corps d'hostel " on the spot where " la grande salle " then was, after plans which the architect had drawn up. Thus began the " old " Louvre which we know. For though the building has taken 300 years to. finish, it has virtually been carried out on those compelling lines laid down by Lescot in 1546. After the death of Francois I. in 1547, Lescot's post as Director of the works at the Louvre was confirmed by Henri II. And the facade which has served as model for the rest of the building was completed in two years. This is the south-west angle of the court, round the spot on which the great tower had stood. Not only was the exterior rebuilt. The interior had now to be remodelled to meet the requirements of State occa- sions. The whole of the west wing was devoted to a single State room on the first and second floors. The lower one is the well-known Salle de Cariatides. The upper one is now occupied by the De Caze collection, but has been much altered. For thirty-two years, until his death in 1578, Lescot continued his work upon the Louvre ; and apart from his own genius, it was his great good fortune to have for associate and friend the greatest sculptor of the day, Jean Goujon. To Goujon's chisel the building owes the decorations of the facade— those 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OP THE RENAISSANCE. (31 exquisite bas-reliefs which are its glory — the four great figures from which the Salle des Cariatides takes its name — and possibly the sculptures of the Escalier Henri II., — though this is extremely doubtful. They are, however, certainly from his atelier. Honours came fast on Lescot under the succeeding reigns. In 1554 he was made a Canon of Notre Dame. But as Canons were obliged to shave at least once in every three weeks, Lescot insisted on an exception being made in his favour ; and only accepted the canonry on condition he should be allowed to keep his beard. In 1556 he was styled " Abbe de Clermont, conseiller et ausmonier ordinaire du Roy ". In 1559, on de l'Orme's disgrace, Lescot was given his office. And in 1578 he died in his Canonry of Notre Dame. His contemporaries speak of him as an excellent painter. But no picture has survived. All that remains of his work are — fragments of the Jube of Saint Germain FAuxerrois, now in the Louvre ; the Fontaine des Innocents, Marche des Innocents ; the Hotel Carnavalet, Rue de Sevigne ; Architecture of the Tomb of Henri II., St. Denis ; and his chief and greatest work, the south-west angle of the old Court of the Louvre from the Pavilion de l'Horloge. Philibert de L'Orme (6. Lyons, 1515; d. 1570),— builder of Anet and the Tuileries, was the first of the new type of architect. No longer the maitre magon : but a man of learning, accomplishments, acquirements, a courtier and polished gentle- man of the world. Without the original genius of Bullant, his learning and power of adaptation almost counterbalanced his want " of sensitive feeling and original resource. His talent, " made up chiefly of reason and science, well personified the "second period of the Renaissance." 1 De l'Orme knew better than most men how to make the best use of his knowledge. His two published works, Nottvelles inventions pour bien batir, and Livre d' Architecture, are full of personal details. So is the MS. Memoir of himself written about 1560, and discovered in the Bibliotheque National in 1860. He always contrived to attract attention ; and tells us how 1 Lady Dilke. 62 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. IV. in Borne he measured the Triumphal Arch of Sta. Maria Novella, "just when several Cardinals and nobles " happened to be passing. At the age of fourteen he went to Italy, where the precocious youth seems to have made himself heard of to some purpose. For he says, in his Memoirs : " J 'ay servi papes, roys, et plusieurs cardinaux, et feu Monsieur de Langes, Guillaume du Bellay, et Monsieur le Cardinal son frere me debauchai- rent du service du pape Paulle a Eome, ou j'estoys et avoys une belle charge a St. Martin dello Bosco alia Callabre". Four years later he left Borne and returned to Lyons. A house there, in the Bue de la Juiverie still shows an extra- ordinarily skilful addition by his hand — solving the problem of how to connect two parts of the house with a gallery by means of two " voutes a trompe ". The portal of the Church of St. Nizier at Lyons — still unfinished — is also by de l'Orme. He was first employed near Paris by Cardinal du Bellay, on his Chateau of Saint-Maur-les-Fossez, afterwards the property of Queen Catherine de Medicis. It is, however, with Henri II. 's accession that de l'Orme's known activity begins. By letters patent dated April, 1547, he is made " Conseiller et ausmonier ordinaire et Architecte du roy," to superintend the works of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Fontaine- bleau, Villers-Cotterets, etc. Next year he is created Abbe of Ivry. The year after, Inspector of the Boyal works. But this year, 1549, is of much greater importance. For in it he begins the building of Anet, for Diane de Poitiers, Duchesse de Valentinois. The King on his accession, had presented her, as I have said, with "la paulette," the yearly patent tax. And out of this immense revenue of public money she built Anet with extraordinary rapidity. De l'Orme, besides various small works, also built for the beautiful favourite the bridge across the Cher at Chenonceaux, 1 which, though it adds a singular and picturesque touch, destroys the unity of design of the gem that we owe to Pierre le Nepveu. In 1550 he designed the Chapelle aux Orfevres. And also 1 See Le Nepveu. 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 63 designed the famous monument of Francois I. at St. Denis —which is mentioned under the head of Sculpture. In 1559 disgrace came upon de l'Orme at the hand of the Queen-Mother — mainly owing to his works for Diane de Poitiers. In vain he appeals to Catherine in his Memoir, and recapitulates all his services to herself and " le feu roy ". She remains obdurate. And will not even allow him to exercise his profession. So he is forced to amuse himself by lawsuits with the monks of St. Barthelemy- les-Noyon ; and in writing his Nouvelles Inventions. After five years, however, the Queen-Mother relented — needing him for her new project, the Palace of the Tuileries, close to the King's Palace of the Louvre which Lescot was still building. Here de l'Orme had to contend with many difficulties. Catherine herself had made the plans. And de l'Orme was further hampered by having for official coadjutor, Madame du Perron, one of the Queen's ladies, who was appointed one of the " Surintendants des bastiments duroy ". Anet, therefore, where he worked untrammelled by advice and pressure of other minds, is the best example of his talent. He was also given the building of the Tour, or Tombeau des Valois, adjoining St. Denis, destroyed by order of the Be*gent in the name of Louis XV. in 1719, on account of its bad condition. The exterior was composed of Doric and Ionic columns, surmounted by a third Composite order, with a cupola and pierced lantern. Beneath this lay Germain Pilon's superb figures of Henri II. and Catherine. Like Lescot, a Canon of Notre Dame, Philibert de l'Orme died in the Cloisters of the Cathedral in 1570. Bich, famous, and successful, he had plenty of enemies. Bonsard was jealous of him, and made game of him in sonnets. And Palissy in his book Eaux et Fontaines, attacked his system of waterworks, as well as his great wealth. But the fact remains that his books may still be read with profit. His Nouvelles Inventions are valuable on account of precepts upon cutting and preparing stone, jointings of masonry, and other details of actual building. In these matters his knowledge and skill was immense. And he trained his master-masons 64 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. IV. himself with infinite care. He also revolutionized the system of timber work hitherto in use : " And gave his name to the " method which is still called ' couverture a la Philibert de " l'Orme ' "} In 1783 Legrand and Molinos used the actual plans which de l'Orme published in 1561 for the dome of the Halle Neuve in Paris. All that remains of his work is — Unfinished portal, St. Nizier, Lyons. House in the Rue de la Juiverie, Lyons. Euins of Anet. Facade of Anet, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. Gallery across the Cher, Chenonceaux. Touches at Chambord and Chaumont. Tribune of Chapel of St. Saturnin, Fontainebleau. Ceiling and Chimney-piece, Galerie Henri II., Fon- tainebleau. His fine staircase in the Cour du Cheval Blanc at Fon- tainebleau was replaced in the 17th century by an erection of Jacques Lemercier's. The Tuileries are now destroyed. The Chateau of Villers-Cotterets still exists in part. Jean Bullant (6. 1510-15; d. 1578),— builder of Ecouen. — Bullant may be said to stand half-way between the master- masons of the early days of the Renaissance, when the archi- tect was but a superior workman who lived on the scaffolding ; and the architects who built the Louvre and the Tuileries. He had spent much time in Italy. But he was " devoid of that " tincture of letters and grace of various accomplishments " which specially distinguished the more typical men of the "time".' 2 This perhaps made him all the more acceptable to the violent Constable, Anne de Montmorency, who would have found Lescot and de l'Orme too polished and courtly to suit his rough humour. And in 1540 he began what was to be the absorbing work of his life, when Anne de Montmorency commissioned him to carry on the building of his Chateau of Ecouen, begun some few years earlier. Henri II. in 1557 appointed him by letters patent " Con- troleur des bastiments de la Couronne ". But three years 1 Lady Dilke. 2 Ibid. 1475-1589. AECHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 65 later he was replaced by Francois Sannat, supposed to be a protege of the Queen-Mother. At the age of fifty-five he was taken into favour again on the death of de l'Orme, and recalled to Paris to carry on the unfinished buildings of the Tuileries ; and also to superintend the works at Catherine's Chateau of Saint-Maur-les-Fossez. In 1571 he was completely restored to favour— the Queen-Mother appointing him her architect to the " Thulleries ". Two years later we find he receives 532 livres as " ordonnateur de la sepulture " of Henri II. And m 1575 is " Controleur des bastiments du roi " and architect for the Tomb of the Valois. He also built the Hotel de Soissons for Catherine. But m spite of all these royal works and important posts, he remains the architect of the Montmorencys. The two Chateaux he built for the Constable, Ecouen and the Petit Chateau of Chantilly, still survive to attest to his genius. Ecouen was his home. At Ecouen the greater part of his life was spent. At Ecouen he died in 1678. Happily this magnificent specimen of the later Kenaissance was saved from complete destruction at the Eevolution, by being used as a military Hospital. It is now the School of the Legion of Honour. And though little but the mere shell remains, it is a document of the highest interest and value— a building begun and finished by a skilful and highly original artist, who worked at it with a clearly-defined purpose, unfettered by convention or interference. His work is extremely characteristic, even in its defects. At Chantilly, built in 1559 soon after the disgrace of the Constable — at Ecouen — in the bridge-gallery of Fere-en- Tardenois— whatever might be his respect for antiquity, Jean Bullant was^quite ready to introduce innovations, " where " arches pierce the pediments, where windows cut through " the entablature, where classic orders rise from the bottom " of one storey to the middle of the upper one These defective arrangements became extremely popular, thanks to Bullant. And a number of churches in the Eenais- sance style, which are to be seen in the district round 1 Palustre. 5 66 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Ch. IV. Ecouen, if they are not actually from his hand, show his influence. Examples of Bullant's work : — A few fragments of Pilasters and Carvings from the Pavilion de Flore, Tuileries. The Doric Column, 100 feet high, in the Halle aux Bles. This is all that remains of the Hotel de Soissons. The Pont-Galerie of Fere-en-Tardenois. Facade of the Church of Belloy. The shell of Ecouen. The Petit Chateau, Chantilly. Besides the four celebrated artists, Le Nepveu, Lescot, de l'Orme, Bullant, and the host of anonymous workers, other architects of the Eenaissance whose names have come down to us in connection with famous buildings, must be mentioned. Jean Texier or Letexier (d. Chartres, 1529),— known as Jean de Beauce, is one of the earliest of these. Maitre d'oeuvre and sculptor, he lived at Vendome, and worked there on the Church of the Trinity until 1506. He signed an agreement in that year with the Chapter of the Cathedral of Chartres to rebuild the Clocher, the north-west tower 1 which had been destroyed by lightning. This bell-tower and spire was finished in 1513. In 1514 he began the celebrated screen round the Choir, which shows he was not only an architect but a sculptor of considerable merit. He was unable to finish it before his death; and the work, carried on by Francois Marchand and others, was not finished until the 17th century. Texier also enlarged the Church of Saint- Aignan, Chartres, by an arch of fourteen metres across the Eure, supporting the sacristy, etc. ; a work of great boldness of conception. He died in 1529. Bastien Francois and Martin Francois of Tours.— Bastien Francois, maitre d'oeuvre and sculptor, married a daughter of Guillaume Begnault, the nephew of Michel Colombe. In 1500 he became maitre d'oeuvre to the 5 See p. 53. 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 67 Cathedral of Tours ; and, with his brother Martin, built the upper part of the Northern tower. This belfrey shows an ex- tremely bold and original design. Founded on early pointed work, it is surmounted by a scaled cupola ; while within it, a graceful, spiral staircase rests on a crown of open groins or ribs. The inscription in the dome shows this tower was finished in 1507. The Southern tower resembles that of Francois in general appearance, though it was not begun until 1537, and finished ten years later. In the next year, 1508, Bastien Francois and his brother began the exquisite Cloitre de Saint-Martin, at Tours. Of this, happily for the student, the Eastern wing still exists in the playground of a Convent School. And the kindly, white-robed sisters are most willing to admit visitors. This cloister shows, as M. Palustre points out, with what rapidity the genius of Bastien Francois developed. Following so soon upon the somewhat rugged, though very advanced work of the tower, we find here an exquisite specimen of the purest Benaissance. A line of round-headed arches, their architraves richly but delicately ornamented, and medallions imitated from Italian plaques m the spandrels, is surmounted by an enchanting frieze, and a cornice. The ribs under the roof, form more round-headed arches from pillar to wall ; and at the intersections are round cartouches, each one different. This cloister, one of the gems of the period, was finished by Pierre Gadyer, in 1519. The brothers now erected the Fontaine de Beaune, which, though despoiled of its basins, is still a beautiful specimen of their work. In parts of it— the lower lines of wings and claws— it seems possible to trace not only the same design, but the same hand, as in part of the tomb of the children of Charles VIII. in the Cathedral. This may well be. For it is now ascertained beyond doubt 1 that Guil- laume Begnault, Bastien 's father-in-law, was employed on the tomb (1506) with Jerome de Fiesole, under the direction of Michel Colombe. Bastien Francois worked with these two sculptors, under his great-uncle Michel Colombe's direction, upon the tomb of Francois II., Due de Bretagne, at Nantes 1 Palustre. 68 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. IV. (1502-1506) ; and he was also designated by Colombe (1508) to conduct the works of the platforms and tombs at Brou. 1 But the death of Colombe, and disgrace of Perreal who had furnished the first designs, stopped the work. In 1513 Bastien was appointed maitre d'ceuvres to the city of Tours ; and in 1515 maitre d'ceuvre " de Maconnerie et de Charpenterie " to the King, in Touraine, his brother suc- ceeding to his post at the Cathedral. Bastien Francois died in 1523. His brother Martin died in 1525, and was succeeded by several generations of architects. Of these, Gatien Francois I. worked at Chenonceaux ; the Eglise des Minimes at Plessis les Tours ; at Marmoutiers, 1531 ; and took the place of Pierre Gadyer at the Chateau de Madrid. Pierre Gadyer or Gandier,— a Tourangeau architect, seems to have replaced Martin Francois as maitre d'ceuvre to the Cathedral of Tours, about 1526. The lower part of the Southern tower is attributed to him. His other serious claim to fame is, that it is now ascertained that it was Gadyer who drew up the plans for the magnificent Chateau -de Madrid, built by Francois I. in the Bois de Boulogne. 2 The oft-repeated legend of its Italian origin is now defini- tively destroyed. And, as indeed common-sense might have discovered long ago, a building so absolutely French in its whole conception, is now known to have been the work of a French architect, aided by Delia Bobbia and other Italians in all matters of ornament. Gadyer also appears to have finished the Cloitre de St. Martin, at Tours, begun by the brothers Francois. Colin Biard or Byart (6. Amboise, 1460),— began his known career by work on the Chateau of Amboise, under Charles VIII. In 1499 he was chosen with three other architects to superintend the rebuilding of the Pont Notre Dame which had given way. Later on, Louis XII. entrusted him with the building of the Chateau of Blois. And from Blois, Cardinal d' Amboise summoned him to Gaillon. In 1505 he returned twice to Gaillon to inspect the works. In the next i See M. Colombe. 2 See p. 48. 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 69 year he made another journey there to determine the founda- tions of the Chapel. And in July went with Guillaume Senault to Saint-Leu to choose the stone for the Grand Maison. It is evident, therefore, that he assisted Pierre Fain and Pierre Delorme in the building of this magnificent edifice. A drawing on vellum of the decoration for the Chapel, still exists among the archives of Gaillon, signed with a B. In Dec, 1506, Biard was summoned to Bouen with other maitres d'oeuvres, to decide whether the Tour de Beurre, just built, should be completed with an aiguille or " terrasse avec couronne ". In 1507 we find him at Bourges, in consultation about measures to prevent the fall of the Cathedral tower. It fell, however, on the 30th of the month. And in 1508 he furnished plans for rebuilding it. He is mentioned as having been from his youth " mele et entremis du faict de masson- erie". The date of his death is not known. He must not, however, be confused with another and better known Biard (Pierre), author of the Jube of Saint ^tienne du Mont, etc. 1 Pierbe Fain,—" maitre d'ceuvre et sculpteur de Bouen ". In 1501 we find the first mention of Pierre Fain. He was entrusted with work upon the Archbishop's palace at Bouen, by Cardinal Georges d'Amboise. And later at the Manoir Abbatial de Saint-Ouen, for the Abbot, ^ tienne Boyer, which he completed in 1507. In this same year Cardinal d'Amboise*, the all-powerful minister of Louis XII., summoned him to Chateau Gaillon. And Pierre Fain agreed with other maitres d'oeuvres for the construction of the Chapel and the grand staircase, for a sum of 18,000 livres. This work was finished in Sep., 1509, and the money paid to Fain. The sculptors for this famous Chateau were Michel Colombe, Antoine Juste, and Francois Marchand. The ornamentation was by the best Italian artists then in France. Paintings were by Andrea Solario. The architects, besides Pierre Fain, who was the chief master at the moment, were Guillaume Senault, Pierre Delorme, 1 See p. 130. 70 A HISTORY OP FRENCH ART. Ch. IV- Boland Leroux, and Colin Byard. The magnificent building was destroyed at the Eevolution. Only the entrance, the Clock tower, and the Chapel tower are now standing ; and form part of the great Maison Centrale de Detention, a mile or so from the station of Gaillon, between Paris and Bouen. The stalls of the Chapel are at St. Denis. The Fountain is in the Louvre. So is the St. George and the Dragon. The Facade or Portico is the glory of the court at the F^cole des Beaux Arts. That court also contains many ex- quisite fragments from Gaillon ; and an arcade of two or three arches, the pillars ornamented with exactly the same curious network pattern enclosing ermines' tails as on the arcade of Louis XII., at Blois. This would point to both being the work of Colin Byard. 1 In 1508 for further sums, Pierre Fain and his associates undertake to build the kitchens. And Fain alone, agrees to build two half croisees and a dormer, for 324 livres 10 sols. And the portico, which gave passage from the fore-court to the Cour d'Honneur, for 650 livres. This, as I have said, is now at the Beaux Arts. The modern inscription, as M. Eugene Miintz points out, is erroneous ; for it says, " Facade du Chateau de Gaillon " bati en 1500 par le Cardinal Georges d'Amboise," instead of giving the real date, 1508. It occupies the place once filled by the glorious St. George and the Dragon of Michel Colombe. Chateau Gaillon, as built by Cardinal d'Amboise, will always remain oiife of the marvels of the early Benaissance, and a chef-d'oeuvre of French Architecture. It was not until the end of the 16th century that it was disfigured by the monstrous ornamentation, so justly condemned by Fergusson and others. Gilles le Breton (d. 1553?), — maitre d'ceuvre de Paris. The place of Gilles Breton in the history of French Art, has within the last few years become one of considerable import- ance. For he is now proved to have been the architect of the chief works at Fontainebleau, under Francois I. These have hitherto been attributed wholly to the Italians. Indeed 1 See p. 53. 1475-15S9. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 71 we are commonly told that Fontainebleau hardly counts in French Art, as it was built entirely by Italians, from the plans of Italians. The more honest and careful researches of recent authorities have completely disproved these whole- sale assertions. In 1526 Gilles le Breton was working at Chambord with Le Nepveu. The next year he was appointed " maitre gene- ral des oeuvres de Maconnerie du roi, et son commis voyer," a post of the highest importance. It was in 1529 that Francois I., by a consenting act, took back certain ground which Saint-Louis had given in 1259 to the Trinitaires, round the old Chateau of Louis VII. at Fontainebleau. The king at once began remodelling the ancient Chateau — the chief constructor being his maitre-general, Gilles le Breton. It is considered more than probable that le Breton was the architect as well. For none of the other celebrated architects of the time could have furnished the plans. Lescot was too young. So was Bullant. So was de rOrme, who did not leave Lyons till 1539. Le Nepveu was too busy at Chambord, and Fontainebleau does not bear the slightest trace of his style. While Serlio, to whom the Chateau is attributed, did not arrive in France until 1541. It is therefore obvious that he had nothing to do with the plans in 1528. On April 28, 1528, Le Breton signed a contract to " pull " down the old entrance and build another with a square " tower, besides two smaller ones, and three storeys of " little galleries, etc." In Aug., 1531, there is a fresh contract for the Chapel of St. Saturnin, and the alteration of a staircase. In March, 1540, a third contract for the great staircase and accessories, for 18,000 livres. His various works and his accounts at Fontainebleau were verified and receipted in this year by Philbert de l'Orme and others : " Et il recut d'eux " un satisfecit complet "} Thus the major part of the works at Fontainebleau were finished before Serlio's arrival in 1541. M. Palustre attributes to Gilles le Breton the peristyle in the Cour Oval. And it must be evident to any one who 1 Bauchal. 7-2 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Gh. IV. examines the remains of Francois I.'s buildings, that they are the work of a French, and not of an Italian architect. Lie Breton lived at Avon, the little village just beyond the Canal and the Modern Artillery School, Fontainebleau ; and died there in 1553. Chambiges, Pierre L, (d. 1544), — son of Martin Cham- biges builder of the Transept at Sens, is first mentioned while working with his father at Troyes. Then at Beauvais. In 1533-4 he is styled "Maitre d'ceuvres de Maconnerie et pavement " to the city of Paris. He superintended the fortifications, and carried out the building of the Hotel de Ville under Domenique de Cortone. In June, 1538, he was appointed maitre d'ceuvres to the King, at Senlis. And in the same year worked at Fontainebleau under the orders of Gilles le Breton. His most important work, however, was the transfor- mation of the Chateau of Saint-Germain-on-Laye. This he began in 1539, in which year he made a contract for the terraces of the Chateau, which were executed in lias by Guillaume Guillain and Jean Langeries. In April, 1540, Chambiges received 70,174 livres for the works he had carried out at Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain. In 1541 a contract for the works at La Muette is adjudged to him : but he makes it over the same day to his son-in-law Guillain, and Langeries. In this document he is styled " Maitre d'ceuvres de la Ville de Paris ". Therefore it is probable that he gave the first plans for the building of the Chateau, which was carried on by de l'Orme, who built the Chapel in 1549, three years after Chambiges' death. It is interesting to trace the same peculiarities in all Chambiges' work — the use of brick for ornament', while the massifs of the wall are in stucco or stone. We see it in his portion of Fontainebleau, the cour du Cheval Blanc — especially in the fine chimney on the right as we face the Chateau, with its huge F in red brick on the white ground. At Saint-Germain, it is used not only on the exterior, but in the interior. The walls of the barrel-roofed stairway are ornamented with white stucco panels, and brick pilasters and 1475-1589. ARCHITECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 73 mouldings. So is the magnificent three-storeyed chimney- piece in the great Hall. This inversion of the use of stone and brick is a mark of al] the Chateaux built by Cham- biges — Fontainebleau, Saint-Germain, La Muette, Challuau. This Architect must not be confounded — as has often happened — with Pierre Chambiges II. M. Bauchal says he must have been a grandson or great nephew of Pierre I. He married a daughter of St. Quentin, one of the contractors for the new Louvre. And was supposed to be the builder of the "Petite Galerie" of the Louvre in 1566. This has been erroneously ascribed to Pierre I., who died twenty years before there was any question of building it. CHAPTEE V. SCULPTORS OP THE RENAISSANCE. In studying the Sculptures of the Eenaissance in France, it is well at once to accept the fact that a large proportion of these works of art are anonymous. Or, if they are not absolutely anonymous, that their authorship is often ex- tremely doubtful. It is necessary to bear in mind that the artist working for his Art, working to express the thought within him, and imposing that thought upon the public, was non-existent at the beginning of the 16th century. The artist, as such, is indeed a quite modern development. The sculptor or the painter of the Eenaissance was still a workman. He regarded himself, and was regarded by his employers, as one who worked for wages, and who was therefore to be ready to turn his hand to anything that his patron needed. There was no thought as yet of his putting a signature to his work — chef-d'oeuvre though it might be. Jean Goujon's masterpieces are only known by his con- tracts with this or that architect or patron. His absolutely authentic works are few and unsigned. Others are proved to be his by conclusive evidence. Others we think may well be his by their general resemblance to his work. But what is of real importance, after all, is not the name of the artist, but the quality of the work. It is, of course, deeply interesting to know the name of the creator of a famous work. To trace the development of his style and power. To observe the effect of outside influences on his genius. Or the tendencies of the school in which he has been trained. But this interest in the artist — this demand, which is grow- ing more and more imperative in these latter days, for per- sonal details — is too apt to take the first place. The worth and beauty of his production is put second. And many (74) 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 75 people, if they see " Artist unknown " below a superb work of Art, will pass it by with hardly a glance, to become en- thusiastic over some quite second-rate production, because it is attributed to some one whose name they know. If the Diane Chasseresse was one of these many anonymous sculptures, would it be less beautiful — would it be less the most perfect and exquisite expression of a great artist's genius ? Do we, or rather should we, think less of the noble statue of Chabot, because we are now almost certain that it is not the work of Jean Cousin ; while we are quite certain that it is not, as has been suggested, the work of Goujon, with whose method it has no relation at all ? Or is the frieze on the tomb of Louis de Breze less exquisite because we cannot be sure, though there are strong probabilities in its favour, that it, again, is from the hand of Goujon ? Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon have become names to conjure with. There- fore in the past, the most unlikely and impossible produc- tions have been attributed to their chisel ; productions which, thanks to a more enlightened and scientific method of Art criticism, we now know they could never have touched. This intense desire on the part of the public for a name, is at the bottom of many frauds. To satisfy this craze for " authenticity," thousands of pictures and statues are fur- nished with the names of artists, who in some cases were either dead, or not yet born, at the time the work was pro- duced. As I have already pointed out, 1 Sculpture during the earlier part of the Renaissance, save for tombs and portrait busts, is chiefly ornamental. This is natural, and easily ex- plained, when we see how France at that moment became covered with dwelling-places of extreme beauty and luxury ; either new creations, or old Chateaux-forts entirely recon- structed to meet the wants of the day. These Chateaux and palaces — loaded with carvings on columns, gateways, dormers, chimneys, balustrades, lines of pilasters with rich capitals, exquisite arcades, cartouches and trophies without ; and elaborate chimney-pieces, staircases, and ceilings within — 1 Chap. iii. 70 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. V. made enormous demands on the talent of the most accom- plished sculptors of the day. For much of the work is so perfect, of so high an order, that it could only have come from a master's hand. A hundred instances might be quoted. I will only give a few. 1. The little amours who crest the dormers and chimneys of the Aile Francois I. at Chambord, and some of the capi- tals of pilasters. 2. Cartouches and pendants on the staircase, Azay le Rideau. 3. Details of the outside staircase, Blois. 4. Cartouches of Labours of Hercules outside north wing, Chateau de Blois. 5. Chimney-piece, dit de Jean Goujon, Chenonceaux. In life these Humanists now desired to be surrounded by beautiful details. In death they desired their memories might be perpetuated by magnificent tombs. These were often arranged, and sometimes executed, during their lifetime. And with a proud humility, not content with being repre- sented in the vigour and splendour of life, they were fre- quently portrayed on the same tomb in death. This is a singular characteristic of many of the finest monuments of the period. In the splendid tombs of St. Denis, Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne, Henri II. and Catherine de Medicis, lie as gisants, half naked in all the pathetic abandonment and humiliation of the death that is common to all ; while above the superb canopies, the priants kneel in regal magnificence of life and power. A more extraordinary contrast it is impossible to find than that between the terrible and tragic figure of Louis XII. lying nearly naked beside Anne, whose head is thrown back with hair flying wild, and his kneeling statue above with hands pressed together, upon the prie-dieu. For serious beauty this is unsurpassed. The turn of the head is enchanting in its calm reverence and tenderness. This arrangement with slight variations we find in many other cases. In Germain Pilon's monument of Valentine Balbiani (Louvre), below the portrait statue of the " grande dame " with high-bred hands, leaning on her elbow, with her 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 77 little dog and book of Hours, a bas-relief shows us the almost skeleton old woman dead — horrible and pathetic. Sculpture now, however, goes a step further. It was not until the later period of the Renaissance movement that statues and groups of sculpture became common. The taste was doubtless encouraged by the influence of Italy, the presence at Court of Primaticcio, Benvenuto Cellini and others. Cellini's graphic account of the scene in the long Gallery at Fontainebleau, when he displays his Mars, and Primaticcio uncovers his bronze casts from the antique, shows that the demand for statues to ornament the gardens and courtyards of the new palaces, had begun under Francois I. With the reign of Henri II. it grows rapidly. The " Diane Chasseresse," and that lost figure of a nymph that formed a pendant to it at Anet, were erected soon after 1550. Ten years later Germain Pilon is carving wooden figures of Mars, Minerva, Juno, Venus, for Queen Catherine's garden : and a year or two after, his famous " Three Graces," and the wooden group of Cardinal Virtues. While under Henri IV., sculpture has regained the position it occupied in Greece and Borne. Before enumerating the known artists of the later Re- naissance, it may be well to mention some of the most im- portant anonymous works, or those of doubtful authenticity. Several of these are in the Salle Michel Colombe, Louvre, among them — Two recumbent figures from the Church of Saint-Ger- main l'Auxerrois. 1. Pierre Poncher, Secretaire du roi, d. 1521. 2. His wife, Eoberte Legendre, 1522. The authorship of these tombs has long been doubtful. Within the last few months, however, it has been dis- covered that they are the work of Guillaume Regnaut (1450-1533) and Guillaume Chaleveau, both of the School of Touraine. In both the hands are remarkable and character- istic. Roberte Legendre's is a live and noble figure. The folds of her soft, heavy cloak are full of stately repose. 3. Statue of Admiral Chabot, formerly attributed to Jean 78 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. V. Cousin. A fine cast of this is in the South Kensington Museum. Below the statue is a lovely despairing little figure of Fortune, flung at full length on the ground with a broken wheel. This bears, both in touch and general treatment, a strong resemblance to the work of Goujon. It is certainly not by the same hand as the Admiral. 4. Statue of Magny, Salle Michel Colombe. 5. Vierge d'Olivet, attributed to Michel Colombe, Salle Michel Colombe. 6. Virgin and child, anonymous, Salle Michel Colombe. 7. Statue of Saint-Eloi from Dijon, Salle Michel Colombe. 8. Tomb of Cardinal Briconnet, Cathedral of Narbonne. 9. Tomb of Guillaume du Bellay, Cathedral of Le Mans. 10. Tomb of Artus Gouffier, Oiron. 11. Tomb of Hugues des Hazards, Blenod-lez-Toul. 12. Statue of Marie de Bourbon, Saint-Denis. 13. The celebrated tomb of the two Cardinals, Georges d'Amboise and his nephew, Cathedral of Kouen. This is said to be the work of Koland Leroux, architect, and the sculptors Pierre Desobaulx, Eegnaud Therouyn, and Andre le Flament, 1520-25. 14. Tomb of Louis de Breze, Cathedral of Kouen. 15. French Shepherd, Musee de Cluny. SCULPTORS. Francois Marchand (6. Orleans, 1500(?) ; d. 1553(?)),— maitre d'ceuvre and sculptor. Francois Marchand worked first at Chateau Gaillon, where he sculptured nine bas-reliefs for the fagade. He then returned to Orleans and decorated several houses, notably No. 22 Bue Neuve, and one facing No. 4 Kue Pierre Percee, which is now destroyed — only the chimney- piece remaining in the Musee. With Bernardeau he con- structed the Jube in the Church of St. Pierre, Chartres, in 1540-43. Of this four bas-reliefs are preserved in the Louvre. And in 1542 a contract shows that he was carrying on the work of the magnificent Choir Screen in the Cathedral of 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 79 Chartres, begun by Jean de Beauce. 1 In this he agrees to execute two " histoires de la Purification Nostre Dame et des Innocens " ; and the " revestement d'un pilier ". Francois Marchand also assisted Pierre Bontemps in some of his work on the bas-reliefs and the recumbent figures of the Tomb of Francois I. in Saint-Denis. Jean Goujon (b. about 1510; d. 1564-8).— The first mentions of this great artist's name are in the Chapter accounts of the Cathedral of Bouen and of Saint-Maclou. In 1540 he had already been employed to make " les portraiz " or designs for the porch and fountain. And the small panels in the doors of St. Maclou show his work. Though injured by whitewash, which has been carefully scraped off by the intelligent Suisse of the Church, these panels are of great interest. A good cast of the door is in the South Kensington Museum. It was about 1540-42 that Goujon left Bouen for Paris, to work under Pierre Lescot on the restorations of Saint- Germain l'Auxerrois. The bas-reliefs of the Jube were his work. Of these, a superb deposition, and the four evange- lists, are preserved in the Louvre. The draperies already show Goujon 's grace. The touch is firm, strong, and grace- ful. Bullant was now building Ecouen for the Constable Anne de Montmorency ; and Goujon passed two years in his service, working at Ecouen, where he was associated with Palissy. Fragments of work of this sojourn, collected by the excellent Lenoir at the Bevolution, are to be seen in the Louvre. The Victory, the Chimney-piece of the Salle des Gardes, and the Altar from the Chapel, are at Chantilly. At Fjcouen, Goujon also did the illustrations to Jean Martin's " Vitruvius ". In 1544 - 46, Lescot was building a Hotel for the president de Ligneris, now known as the Hotel Carnavalet. Here Goujon, who seems to have been on terms of intimate friend- ship with the great architect, was associated with him again in the well-known and beautiful ornamentation ; and a few years later began work, also with Lescot, for Henri II. 1 See Texier. 80 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. V. In 1547, finally Goujon left the Constable's service for that of the King, and began his work for Henri II. at the Louvre. Here the carvings on the south-west angle of Lescot's court are without doubt from his hand. So also are the figures in the Salle des Cariatides. Whether the sculptures of the Escalier Henri II. are his, or those of one of his school, is a moot point. In 1550 he finished the exquisite Fontaine des Innocents, for which Lescot furnished the architecture. Originally it occupied an angle formed by the Eue aux Fers and the Rue Saint-Denis, and consisted of three instead of four arcades. When it was reconstructed in the middle of the square, the fourth side with arch and panels were added, completely altering the original conception. Later in the year 1550 Goujon went to Anet, where he carved the gateway of the Chateau, now in the Court of the Beaux Arts ; and the smaller gates, removed to Beauvais. But his crowning triumph was the famous statue, raised high above the great fountain in one of the garden Courts — the Diane Chasseresse, now in the Louvre. " The wide " circle of the basin brimmed with sparkling waters, out " of which rose in successive tiers, round upon round of " decoration, ever increasing in complicated movement, till " the final wheel was crowned by the graceful figure of "Diana and her dogs." 1 This is probably the only remaining example of Goujon's work in the round. It was saved from destruction by the good Lenoir. But not until the poodle, who stands behind his fair mistress showing his teeth, had been broken to pieces for the sake of the metal pipe through which water ran from his mouth. The group is too well known to need description. But it marks a point of such importance in French Art, that it should not only be admired, but most care- fully studied. There is an air of courtly good-breeding about it, which is typical of the time and the personage. The proud stag, with his golden antlers, is as high-bred as Diane herself. The chisel is so free and lifelike on the hairy locks of the i Lady Dilke. 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OP THE RENAISSANCE. 81 fierce guardian poodle. So firm on the delicious fur of the stag. So sharp and spirited on the muscular, hard-trained greyhound. So soft and caressing on the exquisite flesh of Diane. If his chisel had neither the breadth of Greek handling nor the loose and yielding softness of the Florentine, "the "touch has a spirit- and sharpness of accent which is "eminently French, swift and ready, with a directness m "attack which is specially serviceable for works of orna- << ment." 1 In the work on the Louvre it is easy to distinguish between what is from his hand and what is of his invention This is still more evident in the Fontaine des Innocents' Except m the Vitruvius, Goujon is hardly mentioned by his contemporaries. A curious mystery surrounds his life He lives in his glorious works. Goujon has always been claimed as a Huguenot. He lived much with Jean Martin and Bernard Palissy. And various theories have been put for- ward to explain his sudden disappearance after 1562 Some supposed he was killed in one of the massacres ; others that he died from a fall off the scaffolding. But a document found at Modena, and published by M. de Montaiglon 2 has set the question at rest; for it proves beyond doubt that he escaped to Bologna, where he died between 1564 and 1568. Examples — Louvre : — Carvings of Jube of St. Germain l'Auxerrois. Fragments from Ecouen. Diane Chasseresse. Bust of Henry II. (?). Four Nymphs, Nymph, Satyr, and Cupids. Carvings of S.W. Angle of Court of Louvre. Tribune des Cariatides, Louvre. Escalier Henri II. (?), Louvre. Panels from Fontaine des Innocents, Louvre. Fontaine des Innocents, Marche des Innocents. Porte de Nazareth, Hotel Carnavalet. Lions, Trophies, Fame, facade Hotel Carnavalet. 1 Lady Dilke. 2 Gaz. des Beaux Arts, vol. xxxi., 2nd period 6 82 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. V. Four Seasons, interior Court, Hotel Carnavalet. Gateway of Anet, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Court. Wooden panels from Anet, ]2cole des Beaux Arts, Library. Smaller gates from Anet, Beauvais. Stone Virgin from Chapel of Anet, Ch. of Pacy-sur- Eure. Fragments incorporated in restored Chateau, Anet. Victory, from Ecouen, Chantilly. Chimney-piece Salle des Gardes, from Ecouen, Chan- tilly. Altar of Chapel, from Ecouen, Chantilly. Wooden doors, Church of Saint Maclou, Eouen. Marble Venus from Hotel de la Beine (?), Musee de Cluny. Illustrations to Jean Martin's Vitruvius. Germain Pilon (1535-1598).— Germain Pilon's father was a sculptor of Loue, near Le Mans. But the more famous son was born, it is now ascertained, in Paris in 1535. His first known work is the voute or canopy of the Tomb of Francois I., on which he worked with Bontemps, Fran- cois Marchand, etc., under the direction of Philibert de rOrme. In the " Compte du roi," 1558, he is mentioned as the- author of eight allegorical bronze figures in low relief, "jolies figures de Fortunes". These were melted down at the Bevolution. And only the low reliefs on the ceiling of the canopy, and four little winged figures in the spandrels, remain of his work. From 1560 Pilon was employed almost exclusively by the Court. His next work was on the famous Tour des Valois, and the Monument of Henri II. in it, designed by Lescot for Queen Catherine. On this he worked for twenty years. His part of the tomb consists in the two kneeling bronze figures above, and the two gisants in marble beneath. The kneeling bronze of Henri II. is as fine as anything of the period. The outspread hands are most appealing. To Pilon are also due the magnificent marble recumbent statues of Henri II. and 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 83 Catherine— now in the Chapel of St. Eustache at St. Denis. They lie on bronze mattresses, covered with a monogram of H. C. and Fleurs de Lys entwined in a beautiful design of olives. The extreme magnificence of the two figures, lying with open eyes in calm repose, can hardly be surpassed. The heavy folds of the Koyal robes sober the usual exuberance of Pilon's draperies ; and leave on the mind a sense of stately dignity which he seldom attains. In 1560 Pilon also made carved wooden figures of Mars Minerva, Juno, Venus, for Queen Catherine's garden. Two years later he produced the famous group of Cathe- rine and two of her ladies, as the Three Graces, to bear the bronze vase containing Henri II. 's heart. This group of " des Graces decentes " was placed in the Chapel of the dues d'Orleans in the Church of the Celestins, Paris. It stood beside the statue of Chabot, and the Italian tomb of Louis d'Orleans (now at St. Denis). The Three Graces show that the decadence has begun. They are of the earth earthy. The whole thing, though charming, partakes of the pretty, rather than of the great. The draperies are too tortured,' and lack beauty of line. The other group of four figures in oak (Louvre) for the Chasse de Sainte-Genevieve, which Pilon produced about this time, are to my mind superior. They are very beautiful, though also extremely earthly ; and more free than his work in marble. With the reign of Henri III. Pilon gained a new and powerful patron in the Chancellor Bene de Birague. He entrusted him with the erection of a magnificent monument in Sainte-Catherine du Val des iEcoliers (Louvre), to his wife Valentine Balbiani, whose opportune death enabled the Chan- cellor to take orders and become a Cardinal. Twelve years later, Pilon erected the Cardinal's own tomb. This is also in the Louvre — a kneeling figure in bronze. The lines are superb ; and although, as it is Pilon's work, the drapery is exuberant, the folds exaggerated, it is here in keeping with the character. The Cardinal's robes were originally painted red, as may be still seen by careful examination. But we owe the preservation of this magnificent work of art to 84 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. V. Lenoir, who saved it from destruction in '93 by daubing it with whitewash and assuring the destroyers that it was plaster and not bronze. In this year (1586) the Queen-Mother ordered a statue of the Virgin for one of the altars in the Chapelle des Valois ; and for this purpose appropriated a block of marble at St. Denis — writing to the Grand Prior by Pilon to give it up. On the back of the letter we find in Pilon's writing : " Ce jour " d'hui III. jour d'avril 1586 moy Germain Pilon confesse "avoir pris . . . pour faire le dit ouvrage ". This statue, known as the Vierge de Pitie, is now in the Church St. Paul et St. Louis, Eue St. Antoine. The maquettc for it in painted terra cotta is in the Louvre. Though the hands and the face are really exquisite, the drapery is quite distracting in its broken and tormented lines, and extreme fulness. The contrast between Goujon's and Pilon's treatment of drapery is most marked. In the Cheminee du Chateau de Villeroy (Louvre), the two lively nymphs on either side, in spite of abundant drapery, are more undressed than Goujon's nude. Goujon's draperies are always full of grace. Pilon's nearly always wanting in dignity. While Goujon's instincts were truly Greek, Pilon shows a want of simplicity, and a strong sympathy with the artificial aspects of life. What he saw, he mastered and reproduced with consummate skill. His work possesses great charm. But it coincides with the tone and taste of the Court of Catherine de Medicis. And, as Lady Dilke points out, from her favourite sculptor it would be impossible to expect an expression of the loftier virtues. Pilon's portraits, however, are of extreme value. The bust of Henri III. (Louvre) is a most painful and remarkable human document — the close-shaved, conical head, feeble mouth and retreating chin. So is the bust of Charles IX., with its weak, cruel boy's face. Examples : — The Three Graces (cast S. K. Mus.), Louvre. The Cardinal Virtues (oak), Louvre. Cheminee de Villeroy (cast S. K. Mus.), Louvre. 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 85 Valentine Balbiani, Louvre. Cardinal de Birague, Louvre. Vierge de Pitie (terre cuite), Louvre. Bas-reliefs from Chaire des Grands Augustins, Louvre. La Force et la Foi (bas-reliefs), Louvre. Buste d'enfant, dit Henri IV., Louvre. Maquette of figure of Henri II., St. Denis, Louvre. Christ from Altar of Chap, des Valois ; and Vierge de Pitie, Ch. St. Paul et St. Louis. Statues of Henri II. and Catherine de Medicis, Chapelle de St. Eustache, St. Denis. Bronze kneeling figures and marble gisants, Tomb of Henri II. and Catherine, St. Denis. Etc., etc. Pierre Bontemps.— Nothing certain is known of the history of this great artist, save that he was living and at the height of his fame in 1556. His name appears in the accounts for the Tomb of Francois I. at St. Denis, and the Funeral urn containing the King's heart. ''This is "all; it is sufficient, however, to secure immortality for his " name." 1 In the tomb it is certain that he had the general direction of the Sculpture— the whole monument being designed by Philibert de l'Orme. 2 The recumbent figures, and the five kneeling ones on the canopy, above, are pretty certainly his work, helped at the outset by Francois Marchand, who probably sculptured some of them from Bontemps maquettes. Bontemps is further the undoubted author of the forty-two superb bas-reliefs of the stylobate. These represent the campaigns of Francois I. On the west side the battle of Cerisolles occupies the chief panel, and is of astounding force and beauty. The figure of the King, riding alone, is most noble. And a remarkable artistic effect is obtained by a cannon drawn by two horses on rising ground, standing out against the sky. On the east side the campaign ending with the battle of Marignan and the triumphal entry into Milan, is portrayed. The 1 Louis Gonse. 2 Chapi iv>> p 6g 86 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. V. forest of spears above the cannons of the Swiss should be specially noted. They are used with admirable effect, re- minding one of the lances in the Burne- Jones windows at St. James Church, Birmingham. The Urn containing the heart of Francois I. is wholly from the hand of Bontemps. It is a work of art of the highest order. A plinth, sculptured with funereal emblems, skulls and bones, runs round the base of the pedestal. Higher, on each of the four faces, supported by female heads crowned with laurel, is a round medallion in low relief. The subjects are Astronomy, Music, Song, Poetry— this last being of especial beauty. Four tablets beneath the cornice bear Latin in- scriptions in verse and prose. The Urn above, carved from a single block of marble, and of considerable width and size, is supported on four lions' feet. The arms of France, sala- manders in flames, crowned initials, lions' heads, masks and draperies, cover its surface, round four exquisite bas-reliefs worked with almost the delicacy of a cameo. These represent Sculpture, Drawing, Architecture and Geometry— a charming and ingenious compliment, intended to unite the Arts and Sciences round the heart of the King who gloried in giving them encouragement. On the cover of the Urn two delicious little genii with reversed torches lean against classic masks. Lenoir, to whom we owe so much, saved this precious work of art— the Urn and its pedestal— from the hands of the Eevolutionists in 1793, by giving a load of wood in exchange for it. Ligier Eicher (1500-6; 1567).— Before leaving the sculptors of the Eenaissance, mention must be made of Ligier Eicher, a provincial master, the chief of the school of Lorraine. For his works exhibit an interesting example of indigenous art, untouched in great measure by the schools of Tours and Paris. He was the most illustrious of a family of sculptors. His father, his son, his two brothers and several of their descendants, were all sculptors. And many of their works have been attributed to Ligier. Ligier Eicher's works are like an echo of the successive influences which had reigned in the north of Europe. His 1475-1589. SCULPTORS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 87 first tendencies belong to the Middle Ages. His last style to the Renaissance. His first work is the retable or " Calvary " of Hatton- Chatel, near Saint-Mihiel. It is something in the style of the St. Sepulcre of Solesmes — the naturalistic spirit of the Middle Ages, in an Italian setting. The three compartments are divided and bordered with delicate arabesques on pilasters and friezes. In his Pieta of Clermont en Argonne, dramatic sentiment is dominant. Later on this increases, as in the effigy of Philippe de Gueldre. And his funeral statue of Rene de Chalons, known as "La Mort," is repulsive in its extreme realism. What mars his otherwise very remarkable talent is an absence of simplicity and refinement. The "Enfant a la Creche " of the Louvre — an exquisite baby, plump and seriously content, is thought by M. Cour- nault to be by one of his descendants. So he thinks, is a small and finely carved bas-relief in the Louvre of the Jugement de Suzanne. In any case the proportions are admirable, and the two babies and their dogs below the judgment seat are delightful. Numbers of authentic works by Ligier Richer are to be found round his home. Like many other esprits libres at that time, he became a Protestant, and escaped for safety to Geneva, where he died in 1567. Examples : — Retable, Hatton-Chatel, pres St. Mihiel. Fainting of the Virgin, Ch. of St. Michel, St. Mihiel. Mise au tombeau, Ch. St. fitienne, St. Mihiel. Pieta, or " Bon Dieu de la Pitie," Ch. of Etain. Pieta, terre cuite, Clermont en Argonne. Sainte Madeleine, fragment, Chapel Ste. Anne, Cler- mont en Argonne. Effigy of Duchesse Philippe de Gueldre, Nancy. Funeral Statue of Renede Chalons, called " La Mort," Ch. of St. Pierre, Bar le Due. Enfant a la Creche, Louvre. Jugement de Suzanne, Louvre. CHAPTEE VI. PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE. The art of portraiture is a comparatively modern one in France. Its birth was in the early 14th century, with the first authentic portrait statues of the Kings of France. This growing preoccupation with the portrait was con- fined for more than a century to sculpture. For France, though far in advance of Italy in sculpture at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries, remained well be- hind Italian, Flemish, and German artists in painting. It is only with the first dawning of the Renaissance, with the growth of interest in humanity, with the influence of Flemish and Italian Art, that we find painted portraits be- coming at all general in France. At first these are miniatures. The earliest known French portrait is that of Le roi Jean (1350-1364), a miniature painted on a figured (gaufre) gold background. A picture, now in the Sainte-Chapelle, repre- sents King Jean and the Pope seated, and receiving a diptych, also on gold, from the hands of a valet de chambre. Portraits are about this period introduced into Manuscripts. In the celebrated Book of Hours of the Due de Berry, son of King Jean (Bib. Nat. MS. Latin), his portrait is constantly introduced. The Bibliotheque National possesses a remark- able water-colour portrait of Louis II. of Anjou, King of Sicily. This is of about the year 1415. And M. Bouchot considers it of the highest value in the art of portraiture in France. It is not, however, until the middle of the 15th century, that this art bursts into sudden life under the influence of that great master, Jean Fouquet, whose journey to Italy in 1440 was the touchstone of the French Renaissance. To Jean Fouquet we must always look as the first purely French 1475-1589. PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 89 portrait painter. For, however great his admiration for Italian Art — however strong his endeavour to conform to the new ideals he brought back with him from Italy, in his portraits he remains essentially himself, and essentially French. But Fouquet was more than a portrait painter. In his miniature work, he gives an extraordinary impulse to the art of painting. In that miraculous "Josephus" of the Due de Berry (Bib. Nat.), we find artistic work of the highest order. Both colour, composition, and drawing are of the most impressive as well as exquisite quality, in some of these wonderful pages, where hundreds of figures and wide stretching'landscapes are portrayed in the space of a few inches. Under Fouquet's inspiration, two other artists, Jean Bourdichon and Jean Perreal, now give themselves to the painting of miniatures and portraits. King Bene of Anjou paints sacred pictures and illuminates his famous Book of Hours. While a host of nameless painters devote them- selves to the illuminating of the manuscripts which, to a great extent, represent French painting at the end of the 15th century. The British Museum possesses a very fine col- lection of French MSS. of this period— notably the numbers 43, 44, 49, 50, 53, 54, 58, 60, 94, 95, 99, 101, 105, 106. In several of these, miniature portraits are introduced; as in the translation of Saint Augustine by Baoul de Praelles, where the translator is seen presenting the book to King Charles V. of France.— (B. M., 101). At the beginning of the 16th century, portraits become of diplomatic importance. They are used as authentic docu- ments. Kings and princes send their portraits to the Court of the lady they wish to marry ; or receive hers, painted by their own portrait painter, sent on embassy for that purpose. As early as 1445 this had been the usage in other countries ; as, for instance, in the famous journey of Jean Van Eyck from Flanders to Spain, to paint the portrait of Isabella of Portugal, for Jean le Bon, Duke of Burgundy. Each king and great noble now has his official painter or painters attached to his court and person. The painter, as the sculptor, was a paid servant, who was expected to 90 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Ch. VI. turn his hand to anything. Portrait drawings, such as those of the Clouets and their school, were produced in immense quantities. These drawings were kept in books,, like photographs to-day ; or a whole book of portraits was given as a present. The painter was in fact a sort of Photographer in Ordinary. He continually received orders- for portraits to be finished as quickly as possible ; as when Catherine de Medicis writes : " Que ce soit un crayon pour " estre plus tot fait ". Oil paintings by the Renaissance painters were few. They had little time for so lengthy a. process. These rapid pencil or chalk sketches from the life,, were only occasionally used later on for a miniature or a picture. Once, however, having made the sketch from the life, the artist was ready to produce any number of repetitions ; and often entrusted them to his pupils or apprentices. It is. thus that we find so many variants of the same subject. At the accession of Francois I., Perreal and Bourdichon are "peintres du roi et varlets de chambre," with Guyot and Jamet Clouet (1516) as their subordinates. This is the first authentic mention of Clouet, the father, and the great line of portrait painters has begun in France. Jean Fouquet (1415 circa 1480). — "Digne predecesseur " de Leonard da Vinci, d'Holbein, et de Raphael, Fouquet " prend un vol si eleve qu'on doit lui placer parmi ces grands " maitres et le nommer desormais avec eux." 1 M. de Laborde considers that Fouquet occupies in the history of the French School, an identical position with that held by Mantegna in Italy. In 1440, when Fouquet was not thirty years old, he was- summoned to Rome to paint the portrait of Pope Eugene IV. This shows that the reputation of the young master, who was already chief of the school of Tours, was known beyond the confines of France. His sojourn in Italy, which was prolonged till 1445, was destined to exercise an enormous influence on French Art ; and must be looked upon as the real starting-point of the Renaissance. 1 Aug. de Bastard. 1475-1589. PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE. 91 Miniaturist to Charles VII., Louis XL, Charles VIII. , he was the first to give to France the well-defined style of portrait, which obtained till the middle of the 16th century. The greater part of his works which survive, are minia- tures and illuminations in MSS. A few larger paintings, however, have been preserved. The Louvre happily possesses two — each of extreme importance and interest. The first is the portrait of Charles VII., in a blue hat and deep red dress bordered with fur, between two little white curtains against a green background. The King's shaven red face with long purple nose, is naif and frankly ugly. But the life and character of the picture as a portrait are intense, and the colour fine. The second is Guillaume Juvenal des Ursins, Chancellor of France under Charles VII. and Louis XL, in a dull red, fur-bordered robe, against a golden background. This is also a most powerful and lifelike portrait. The delicate painting of the hands is admirable. And the suggestion of the coming Eenaissance is interesting in the straight lines of the back- ground, divided into compartments, with bears supporting a shield. There are a few other portraits existent. But the miniatures are fortunately more numerous. Chief among these is the Josephus of the Bibliotheque National. In the first illustration, a full page of the Creation, the Italian taste that Fouquet had acquired is suggested by the two hairy-men and the two opulent mermaids, who support the Due de Berry's coat of arms. On the other hand, there are two women's figures in the border which are purely French. The colour of these full page illustrations is most beautiful. Especially so perhaps in the fourth picture, in which Korah, Dathan and Abiram are being swallowed up. The soft dull greys, browns and blues, are most harmonious. So is the delicate tender green of the meadow where the earth opens, on the top of a rock wall round which a furious fight is going on between men in armour, with spears, swords, and shields — the chain armour picked out with fine gold. An exquisite landscape with wooded hills stretches far away — beyond the Koman Temple where Moses and Aaron stand. '92 A HISTORY OF FRENCH ART. Oh. VI. And the fire falls from heaven in long fiery tongues and lines, like the lash of a stock whip. Fouquet's favourite Orange Vermilion, which is found in nearly all his work, only appears in the frame of flaming seraphim round the golden figure representing God the Father above ; and in one sword sheath in the foreground — a most telling and subtle touch. The French landscapes and buildings, which appear with charming naivete throughout the series, are of a very ad- vanced type. The illustrations, of which there are fourteen, are not mere illuminations, but complete pictures — real works of art on a tiny scale. A good many important MSS. have been attributed rather wildly to Fouquet. Among them the Livy at the Bib. Nat., and the superb Bible at Corpus Coll., Oxford. These are most certainly not his, though it is possible they may be by his sons or pupils. As is probably the case with the Valerius Maximus (Brit. Mus., 95) and the Froissart