harmony of parts, and on the artistic quality of such necessities as
lamps, screens, bindings, and furniture. Whoever goes beyond these
essentials should limit himself in the choice of ornaments to the
"labors of the master-artist's hand."
FOOTNOTE:
[36] "A little study would probably show that the Ptolemaic era in
Egypt was a renaissance of the Theban age, in architecture as in other
respects, while the golden period of Augustus in Rome was largely a
Greek revival. Perhaps it would even be discovered that all ages of
healthy human prosperity are more or less revivals, and have been
marked by a retrospective tendency." _The Architecture of the
Renaissance in Italy_, by W. J. Anderson. London, Batsford, 1896.
CONCLUSION
In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to show that in the
treatment of rooms we have passed from the golden age of architecture
to the gilded age of decoration.
Any argument in support of a special claim necessitates certain
apparent injustices, sets up certain provisional limitations, and can
therefore be judged with fairness only by those who make due allowance
for these conditions. In the discussion of æsthetics such impartiality
can seldom be expected. Not unnaturally, people resent any attempt to
dogmatize on matters so generally thought to lie within the domain of
individual judgment. Many hold that in questions of taste _Gefühl ist
alles_; while those who believe that beyond the oscillations of
fashion certain fixed laws may be discerned have as yet agreed upon no
formula defining their belief. In short, our civilization has not yet
developed any artistic creed so generally recognized that it may be
invoked on both sides of an argument without risk of misunderstanding.
This is true at least of those forms of art that minister only to the
æsthetic sense. With architecture and its allied branches the case is
different. Here beauty depends on fitness, and the practical
requirements of life are the ultimate test of fitness.
If, therefore, it can be proved that the old practice was based upon a
clearer perception of these requirements than is shown by modern
decorators, it may be claimed not unreasonably that the old methods
are better than the new. It seems, however, that the distinction
between the various offices of art is no longer clearly recognized.
The merit of house-decoration is now seldom measured by the standard
of practical fitness; and those who would set up such a standard are
suspected of proclaiming individual preferences under the guise of
general principles.
In this book, an endeavor has been made to draw no conclusion
unwarranted by the premises; but whatever may be thought of the
soundness of some of the deductions, they must be regarded, not as a
criticism of individual work, but simply of certain tendencies in
modern architecture. It must be remembered, too, that the book is
merely a sketch, intended to indicate the lines along which further
study may profitably advance.
It may seem inconsequent that an elementary work should include much
apparently unimportant detail. To pass in a single chapter from a
discussion of abstract architectural laws to the combination of colors
in a bedroom carpet seems to show lack of plan; yet the transition is
logically justified. In the composition of a whole there is no
negligible quantity: if the decoration of a room is planned on certain
definite principles, whatever contributes line or color becomes a
factor in the composition. The relation of proportion to decoration is
like that of anatomy to sculpture: underneath are the everlasting
laws. It was the recognition of this principle that kept the work of
the old architect-decorators (for the two were one) free from the
superfluous, free from the intemperate accumulation that marks so many
modern rooms. Where each detail had its determinate part, no
superficial accessories were needed to make up a whole: a great
draughtsman represents with a few strokes what lesser artists can
express only by a multiplicity of lines.
The supreme excellence is simplicity. Moderation, fitness,
relevance--these are the qualities that give permanence to the work of
the great architects. _Tout ce qui n'est pas nécessaire est nuisible._
There is a sense in which works of art may be said to endure by virtue
of that which is left out of them, and it is this "tact of omission"
that characterizes the master-hand.
Modern civilization has been called a varnished barbarism: a
definition that might well be applied to the superficial graces of
much modern decoration. Only a return to architectural principles can
raise the decoration of houses to the level of the past. Vasari said
of the Farnesina palace that it was not built, but really born--_non
murato ma veramente nato_; and this phrase is but the expression of an
ever-present sense--the sense of interrelation of parts, of unity of
the whole.
There is no absolute perfection, there is no communicable ideal; but
much that is empiric, much that is confused and extravagant, will give
way before the application of principles based on common sense and
regulated by the laws of harmony and proportion.
INDEX
Adam, ceiling ornaments of, 93
Andirons, 84
_Appliques_, in hall and staircase, 119
Araldi's ceiling in the convent of St. Paul, Parma, 97
Architrave of door, see Doorway;
of mantel-piece, 82
Arm-chair, modern, 128
_Armoires_, old French and Italian, 117
Ashby, Castle, Inigo Jones's stairs in, 111
Aviler, d', his description of dining-room fountain, 158
Ball-room, 137;
in Italy, 138;
Louis XIV, 139;
lighting of, 140;
chairs, 140
Barry, Madame du, dining-room of, 156
Bath-room, 172;
in Pitti Palace, 172
Bedroom, development of, 162;
Renaissance, 162;
Louis XIV, 162;
XVIII-century, 163;
cotton hangings in, 164;
suite, plan of, 169;
children's, 182
Bedstead, history of, 163
Belvédère, at Versailles, frescoes in, 42
Bérain, ceiling arabesques of, 98
_Bergère_, origin of, 7;
design of, 128
Bernini, his staircase in the Vatican, 108
Bindings, decorative value of, 146
Blinds, 73
Blois, spiral stairs in court-yard of château, 109;
_cabinet_ of Catherine de' Medici, 123
Blondel, on doors, 58;
on fireplaces, 74
Book-cases, medieval, 145;
in Catherine de' Medici's _cabinet_, 145;
in France in the XVII century, 146;
built into the wall, 147;
in England, 149;
modern, 148
Books in the middle ages, 145;
in the Renaissance, 146
Bosse, Abraham, engravings of Louis XIII interiors, 69;
examples of state bedrooms, 123
Boudoir, 130;
modern decoration of, 170
Bramante, his use of the mezzanin floor, 5
Breakfast-room, 160
Bric-à-brac, definition of, 184;
knowledge of, 187;
superiority of old over new, 190
Burckhardt, on medieval house-planning, 107, note
Byfield, G., his stairs at Hurlingham, 111
_Cabinet_, Italian origin of, 123;
used in French Renaissance houses, 123;
of Catherine de' Medici, book-cases in, 145
Campbell's _Vitruvius Britannicus_, example of Palladian manner, 4;
of English house-planning, 135
Carpets, in general color-scheme, 29;
choice of, 100;
_Savonnerie_, 100;
designs of, 101;
stair-carpets, 102, 118;
hall-carpets, 118
Caserta, staircase in royal palace, 108
Casino del Grotto, near Mantua, frescoes in, 42;
ceilings in, 98
Casts in vestibule, 105;
in hall, 118;
in school-room, 178
Ceilings, 89;
timbered, 90;
in France and England, 91;
Elizabethan, 92;
Louis XIII, 92;
Louis XV, 92;
Louis XVI, 93;
Adam, 93, 96;
objections to wooden, 94;
modern treatment of, 95;
frescoed, 97
Chambord, staircase at, 109
_Chambre de parade_, 123
Chandeliers, 140, 159
Chanteloup, library of, 149
Chantilly, stair-rail at, 113
Chevening, Inigo Jones's stairs at, 111
Cheverny, fireplace at, 74
Chinese art, influence of, on stuff patterns, 166
Chippendale's designs for grates, 81
"Colonial" style, the, 81
Color, use of, in decoration, 28;
predominance of one color in each room, 28;
color-schemes, 29
Cornices, interior, Durand on, 94
Cortile, Italian, modern adaptation of, 117
Coutant d'Ivry's stair-rail in the Palais Royal, 113
Curtains, mediæval and Renaissance, 69;
in XVII and XVIII centuries, 70;
muslin, 72
Dado, the, 37;
sometimes omitted in lobbies and corridors, 38
Decoration and furniture, harmony between, 13;
individuality in decoration, 17;
graduated scheme of, 24
"Den," furniture of, 152;
decoration of, 153
Dining-chairs, mediæval, 156;
XVII century, 159;
XVIII century, 159
Dining-room, origin of, 155;
in France, 154;
in England, 155;
furniture of, 156;
French, XVIII century, 157;
fountains in, 158;
decoration of modern, 160;
lighting of, 160;
state, 160;
heating of, 161
Dining-table, mediæval, 156;
modern, 161
Donowell, J., his stairs at West Wycombe, 111
Doors, 48;
sliding, origin of, 49;
double, 49;
mediæval, 51;
in palace of Urbino, 52;
in Italy, 52-54;
locks and hinges, 55;
in the Hôtels de Rohan, de Soubise, and de Toulouse, 56;
glass doors, 57;
treatment in England, 57;
mahogany, 58;
panelling, principles of, 59;
veneering, 61;
concealed doors, 61;
entrance-door, 103
Doorway, proper dimensions of, 51, 60;
treatment of, in Italy, 52;
in France, 55;
in England, 57
Drawing-room, in modern town houses, 20;
evolution of, in England, 122;
in France, 122;
origin of modern, 124;
treatment of, in England and America, 124;
furniture of, 127
Dressing-room, 171
_Duchesse_, 130
Durand, J. L. N., on originality in architecture, 10;
on interior cornices, 94
Easton Neston, use of panel-pictures at, 46
Entrance, treatment of, 103;
entrance-door, 103
Fenders, 85
Fire-backs, 80
Fire-boards, 86
Fireplaces, 74;
mediæval, construction of, 75;
in Italy, 75;
in France, 76;
lining of, 80;
American, 81;
accessories of, 84
Fire-screens, 86
Floors, 89;
of brick or stone, 99;
marble and mosaic, in Italy, 99;
parquet, 99;
of vestibule, 104;
of ball-room, 140
Fontana, his staircase in the royal palace, Naples, 108
Fountains in dining-rooms, 158
Fresco-painting, in wall-decoration, 41;
examples of, in Italy and France, 42;
in ceiling-decoration, 97;
in Italy, 97;
in France, 98;
in Italian gala rooms, 139
Furniture, in the middle ages, 7;
furniture and decoration, harmony between, 25;
modern English and American, 26;
XVIII century, in France and England, 27;
in vestibule, 105;
in hall, 117;
in _salon de compagnie_, 125;
in drawing-room, 127, 128;
English, XVIII century, 129;
in dining-room, 156;
in bedroom, 171;
in school-room, 180
Gabriel, influence of, on ornamental detail, 56;
on ceilings, 93;
on stair-rails, 114
Gala rooms, 134;
uses of, 135;
in Italy, 136
Gallery, 137
Genoa, royal palace, doors in, 54
Gibbons, Grinling, carvings for panel-pictures, 46
Gilding, deterioration of, 192
Giulio Romano's frescoes in the Palazzo del T, 136
_Grand'salle_, mediæval, 110
Grates, 81
Gwilt, his definition of _staircase_, 106
Hall, 106;
old English, 110;
uses of, 115;
modern treatment of, 115;
decoration of, 117;
furniture, 117;
floor of, 118;
lighting of, 119;
prints and pictures in, 119
Holkham, over-mantels at, 81
Hôtel de Rohan, doors in, 56
de Soubise, doors in, 56
de Toulouse, doors in, 56
Houghton Hall, doors in, 57, note
House, Carlton, stair-rail in, 114
Devonshire, stair-rail in, 114
Norfolk, stair-rail in, 114
Individuality in decoration, 17
Isabella of Este's apartment at Mantua, doorways in, 52
Jones, Inigo, his introduction of Palladian manner in England, 4,
note;
influence on ceiling-decoration, 92;
on plan of English hall, 110;
his stairs at Castle Ashby, 111;
at Chevening, 111
Juvara, his staircase in the Palazzo Madama, Turin, 108
Lambrequin, origin of, 71
Lamour, Jean, his wrought-iron work at Nancy, 112
Lantern in vestibule, 105
Laurano, Luciano da, palace of Urbino built by, 6
Lebrun, door-locks in _Galerie d'Apollon_ designed by, 55
Le Riche, frescoes of, in Belvédère, Versailles, 42
Library, 145;
in the university at Nancy, 149;
of Louis XVI, at Versailles, 149;
of Chanteloup, 149;
modern, decoration of, 150
_Lit de parade_, 122
_Lit de repos_, 130
Longhi, frescoes of, in Palazzo Sina, Venice, 143
Louis XIII, windows, 69;
ceilings, 92
Louis XIV, modern house-furnishing dates from his reign, 8;
style, characteristics of, 14;
window-shutters, 69;
influence on French, 77;
mantels, 78;
ceilings, 98;
stair-rails, 112;
ball-rooms, 140
Louis XV style, characteristics of, 13;
doors, 56;
ceilings, 92;
wrought-iron work, 112;
stair-rails, 113
Louis XVI style, characteristics of, 12;
Gabriel's influence on, 56, 93;
doors, 57;
ceilings, 93;
stair-rails, 114
Luciennes, Madame du Barry's dining-room at, 157
Mantegna's ceiling, palace of Mantua, 97
Mantel-pieces, Italian Renaissance, 77;
French Renaissance, 77;
Louis XIV, 78;
XVIII century, 79;
American, 82;
facing of, 83
Mantua, doorways in palace, 52, 54;
Mantegna's ceiling in, 97;
_cabinet_ of Isabella of Este, 123
Mario dei Fiori, 139
Massimi alle Colonne, palace of, in Rome, 6
Mezzanin, origin of, 5; treatment of, 6
Ministère de la Marine, Paris, door in, 61
Mirrors, use of, in over-mantel, 79;
painted, in Borghese Palace, Rome, 139;
in ball-rooms, 141
Morelli's staircase in Palazzo Braschi, Rome, 108
Morning-room, 132
Mullions, use of, 66
Music-room, 142;
at Remiremont, 143
Music-stand, 144
Music-stool, 144
Nancy, wrought-iron work at, 112;
library in the university, 149
Naples, staircase in royal palace, 108
Niches, in hall and staircase, 117
Nursery, 181
Oberkampf, inventor of color-printing on cotton, 166
Object of art, definition of, 187;
reproductions of, 191
Openings, placing and proportion of, 23;
lines of, carried up to ceiling, 37, 52, 65, 74;
treatment of, in rocaille style, 56
Orders, use of, in wall-decoration, 36;
application to doorways in Italy, 53;
in France, 54;
in England, 57;
in ball-rooms, 139
Originality in art, 9;
J. L. N. Durand on, 10
Over-doors, mediæval treatment of, 52;
in Italy, 53;
in France, 55;
Louis XVI, 57
Over-mantels, Renaissance, 76;
use of mirror in, 79;
XVIII-century treatment, 79;
in England, 81
Palais Royal, stair-rail in, 113
Palazzo Borghese, Rome, painted mirrors in, 139
Braschi, Rome, staircase in, 108
Gondi, Florence, stairs in, 108
Labia, Venice, frescoes in, 136
Madama, Turin, staircase in, 108
Massimi alle Colonne, Rome, date of, 6
Piccolomini, at Pienza, staircase in, 108, note
Pitti, Florence, bath-room in, 172
Reale, Caserta, staircase in, 108
Reale, Naples, staircase in, 108
Riccardi, staircase in, 108, note
Sina, Venice, frescoes in, 143
del T, Mantua, frescoes in, 136
Palladian window, 67
Panelling, in Italy and north of the Alps, 40;
wood, stone and stucco, 40, 42;
subdivisions of, 43
Parma, Araldi's ceiling in convent of St. Paul, 97;
rocaille stoves in museum, 121
Pavia, Certosa of, doorways in, 52
_Perroquets_, 141
Perugia, ceiling in the Sala del Cambio, 97
Perugino's ceiling in the Sala del Cambio, Perugia, 97
Peruzzi, Baldassare, his use of the mezzanin, 5
Piano, design of, 143
Pictures, proper background for, 45;
mode of hanging, 46;
in hall, 119;
in dining-room, 160;
in school-room, 180
Picture-frames, selection of, 45
Plan of house in relation to decoration, 23
Plate-glass in windows, 67
Pompadour, Madame de, dining-room fountain of, 158
Pompeii, wall-frescoes of, 41
Portière, use of, 59
Presses, old English, 117
Prints in hall, 120;
in school-room, 180
Privacy, modern indifference to, 22
Proportion, definition of, 31;
Isaac Ware on, 32
Pyne's _Royal Residences_, examples of pictures set in panels, 46
Rambouillet, Madame de, her influence on house-planning, 8
Raphael, ceilings of, 97
Remiremont, music-room at, 143
Renaissance, characteristics of domestic architecture, 4;
doors, 52;
window-curtains, 69;
mantels, 76, 77;
ceilings, 90-92;
French architects of, 109
Rennes, Palais de Justice, carved wooden ceilings, 89
Rugs, Oriental, 29, 100;
modern European, 101
_Salon à l'Italienne_, see Saloon
_Salon de compagnie_, origin and use of, 123, 125;
decoration and furniture of, 125;
lighting of, 126
_Salon de famille_, origin and use of, 123
Saloon, adaptation of, in England by Inigo Jones, 111;
introduction in France, 123;
uses in Italy, 136;
at Vaux-le-Vicomte, 137
School-room, 172;
decoration of, 178
Screen in Tudor halls, 110
Shobden Court, stairs in, 111
Shutters, interior decoration of, 69;
at Vaux-le-Vicomte, 69;
in rooms of Mesdames de France, Versailles, 69;
purpose of, 72
Sideboard, mediæval, 156;
in France, 157
Smoking-room, 151
Stairs, 106;
development of, in Italy, 107;
in the Palladian period, 108;
in the XVII and XVIII centuries, 108;
spiral, 109;
in hall, in England, 111;
construction of, in Italy, 112;
in France, 112
Stair-carpets, 118
Staircase, meaning of term, 106;
walls of, 117;
in simple houses, 119;
lighting of, 119
Stair-rails, in Italy and France, 112;
Louis XIV and XV, 113;
Louis XVI and Empire, 113;
Tudor and Elizabethan, 114;
Palladian, in England, 114
Stoves, use of, in hall, 120;
examples of old stoves, 121;
in dining-room, 161
Stucco, use of, in decoration, 40;
panelling, in Italy, 40;
in ceilings, 90;
in Elizabethan ceilings, 92;
combined with painting, 97
Stuff hangings, 44
Stupinigi, frescoes at, 42;
over-mantels at, 80
Styles, essence of, 11;
conformity to, 13
Symmetry, definition of, 33;
advantages of, 34
Tapestry, use of, in northern Europe, 39;
its subordination to architectural lines of room, 39
Tiepolo, frescoes of, in the Villa Valmarana, 42;
in the Palazzo Labia, 136
Titian's "Presentation of the Virgin," doorway in, 53
_Toiles de Jouy_, 166
Trianon-sous-Bois, fountains in banqueting-gallery, 158
Udine, Giovanni da, ceilings of, in collaboration with Raphael, 97
Urbino, ducal palace of, 6;
doors in, 52;
fireplace in, 74;
_cabinet_ of Isabella of Este, 123
Vanvitelli's staircase at Caserta, 108
Vatican, Bernini's staircase in, 108
Vault, the Roman, influence of, on ceilings, 191
Vaux-le-Vicomte, interior shutters at, 69;
saloon at, 137
Versailles, frescoes in Belvédère, 42;
windows in rooms of Mesdames de France, 68;
shutters in same, 69;
library of Louis XVI, 148
Vestibule, 104;
furniture of, 105;
lighting of, 105;
absence of, in English house-planning, 110
Villa, Italian, chief features of, 4, note
Villa Giacomelli, at Maser, over-mantel in, 76
Madama, in Rome, ceiling of loggia, 97
Rotonda, near Vicenza, saloon in, 136
Valmarana, near Vicenza, frescoes in, 42
Vertemati, near Chiavenna, over-mantel in, 76;
carved wooden ceiling in, 89
Viollet-le-Duc, on doorways, 52, note;
on mediæval house-planning, 109
Voguë, Hôtel, at Dijon, 7
Wall-decoration, 38
Wall-papers, 44
Walls, 31
Ware, Isaac, on proportion, 32;
on sliding doors, 49;
his definition of staircase, 106
West Wycombe, Donowell's stairs at, 111
Windows, decorative value of, 64;
dimensions of, 65;
plate-glass in, 67;
French or casement, 68;
sash, 68;
curtains, 69, 70;
shutters, 69, 72;
lambrequin, 71;
muslin curtains, 72;
blinds, 73
Wood-box, 86