,,the ,,brochure ,,series               
,the ,chteau of ,chambord3              
,france                                 
,louis ,,xvi4 ,sconces                  
,,october1 #aijj      ,illustration3    
,,plate ,,lxxv      ,,chambord3         
,,southern ,,fa,,ade                    
,,the                                   
,,brochure ,,series                     
,,of ,,architectural ,,illustration4    
#aijj4      ,,october      ,no4 #aj4    
,,the ,,ch,,teau ,,of ,,chambord3       
,,france      ,the ,chteau of ,chambord 
is one of the most unique palaces of the
  ,renaissance in existence4 ,it is1    
writes ,jules ,loiseleur1 the           
,versailles of the feudal monarchy2 and 
was to the ,chteau of ,blois1  that     
central residence of the ,valois1 what  
,versailles was to the                  
,tuilleries1--the country-seat of       
royalty4 ,tapestries from ,arras1       
,venetian mirrors1 curiously sculptured 
chests1 crystal chandeliers1  massive   
silver furniture1 and miracles of all   

the arts1 were amassed in  this palace  
during eight reigns1 and dispersed in a 
single day by the  breath of the        
,revolution4    ,illustration3 ,,lantern
 ,,of ,,the ,,great ,,staircase         
,,chambord    ,it has often been asked  
why ,francis ,i41 to whom the banks of  
the ,loire  presented many marvelous    
sites1 selected such a wild and forsaken
 spot  in the midst of arid plains for  
the erection of the strange building    
which he planned4 ,his peculiar choice  
has been attributed to his  passion for 
the chase and also because of the memory
 of his amours  with the beautiful      
,comtesse de ,thoury1 whom he had       
visited in that  neighborhood before he 
ascended the throne4 ,independently of  
these  motives1 which no doubt counted  
in his selection1 perhaps the very      
wildness of the place and its distance  
from the ,loire1 which reminded  him too
 much of the cares of royalty1 was a    
determining reason4 ,kings1  like       
private individuals1 and even more than 

they1 experience the  need at times of  
burying themselves1 and therefore make a
 hidden and  far-away nest where they   
may be their own masters and live to    
please  themselves4 ,moreover1          
,chambord1 with its countless rooms1 its
 secret  stairways1 and its subterranean
 passages1 seems to have been built for 
one who1 tired of the blaze of royal    
glory1 sought here for shadow and       
mystery4 ,at the same time when he was  
rearing ,chambord in the heart of  the  
uncultivated plains of the ,sologne1    
,francis ,i4 built in the midst  of the 
,blois de ,boulogne a chteau1 where1    
from time to time1 he shut  himself up  
with learned men and artists1 and to    
which the courtiers1  who were          
positively forbidden there1 gave the    
name of ,madrid1 in memory  of the      
prison in which their master had        
suffered4 ,but ,chambord1 like  ,madrid1
 was not a prison2 it was a retreat4    
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxvi          
,,chambord3 ,,general ,,view    ,that   

sentiment of peculiar charm which is    
attached to the situation  of ,chambord 
will be felt by every artist who visits 
this strange  creation4 ,at the end of a
 long avenue of poplars breaking through
 thin  underbrush you see1 little by    
little1 peeping and mounting upward from
  the earth1 a fairy building1 which1   
rising in the midst of arid sand  and   
heath1 produces the most striking and   
unexpected effect4 ,a jinnee  of the    
,orient1 a poet has said1 must have     
stolen it from the country of  sunshine 
to hide it in the country of fog for the
 amours of a handsome  prince4 ,the park
 in which it is situated is twenty      
square miles in  area1 and is surrounded
 by twenty miles of walls4    ,francis  
,i4 had passed his early years at       
,cognac1 at ,amboise or  ,romorantin1   
and when he first saw ,chambord it was  
only an old feudal  manor house built by
 the ,counts of ,blois4 ,there has been 
much question  as to who the architect  
he employed to transform it really was1 

and  the honor of having designed the   
splendid residence has been claimed  for
 several of the ,italian artists1 who   
early in the sixteenth century  came to 
seek patronage in ,france4 ,it seems    
well established today1  however1 that  
,chambord was neither the work of       
,primaticcio1 with whose  name it is    
tempting to associate any building of   
this king's1 nor of  ,vignola1 nor of   
,il ,rosso1 all of whom have left some  
trace of their  sojourn in ,france1 for 
the methods of contemporary ,italian    
architecture  were totally different2   
but as ,m4 de la ,saussaye1 the author  
of a very  complete and concise history 
of the building1 proves1 it was due to  
the skill of that fertile local school  
of art and architecture around  ,tours  
and ,blois1 and more particularly to a  
comparatively obscure  genius1 whose    
name is also mentioned in connection    
with ,amboise and  ,blois1 one ,pierre  
le ,nepveu1 known also as ,pierre       
,trinqueau1 who is  designated in the   

papers which preserve in some degree the
 history of  the origin of the edifice  
as the maistre de l'oeuvre de maonnerie4
  ,behind this modest title apparently1 
writes ,mr4 ,henry ,james1 we must      
recognize one of the most original      
talents of the ,french ,renaissance2    
and it is a proof of the vigor of the   
artistic life of that period  that1     
brilliant production being everywhere   
abundant1 an artist of so  high a value 
should not have been treated by his     
contemporaries as a  celebrity4 ,we     
manage things very differently today4   
,although ,le ,nepveu was the chief     
architect1 ,cousin1 ,bontemps1 ,goujon1 
,pilon and other noted artists were     
engaged in the decoration of  ,chambord4
 ,many changes in the structure were    
afterwards carried out1  especially by  
,louis ,,xiv4 and by ,marshal ,saxe1 to 
whom that monarch  presented it in      
#agdi4 ,from #agbe to #agcc ,stanislaus 
,leszczynski1 the  ex-king of ,poland1  
who spent the greater part of his life  

in being  elected and in being ousted   
from his throne1 dwelt at ,chambord4    
,during  the ,revolution the palace was 
as far as possible despoiled of every   
vestige of its royal origin1 and the    
apartments to which upwards of two      
centuries had contributed a treasure of 
decoration and furniture were  swept    
bare4 ,in #agia an odd proposal was made
 to the ,french ,government  by a       
company of ,english ,quakers1 who had   
conceived the bold idea of  establishing
 in the palace a manufacture of some    
peaceful commodity not  today recorded4 
,napoleon ,i4 presented ,chambord to    
,marshal ,berthier1  from whose widow it
 was purchased in #ahba for the sum of  
#fa1jjj raised  by national subscription
 on behalf of the ,duke of ,bordeaux1   
formerly  ,comte de ,chambord4          
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxvii         
,,chambord3 ,,northern ,,fa,,ade    ,the
 ,chteau1 only the north part of which  
is completed1 consists of  two square   
blocks1 the larger of which1 five       

hundred and twelve feet  long by three  
hundred and eighty-five feet broad1     
encloses the smaller  in such a way1    
that the northern faade of the one forms
 the centre of  the northern faade of   
the other4 ,the corners of each block   
terminate  in massive round towers1 with
 conical roofs crowned by lanterns1 so  
that four of these towers appear in the 
principal faade4 ,in plan it  will be   
seen that ,chambord resembles the       
typical ,french chteau2 with  the       
habitation of the seigneur and his      
family in the centre1 and this          
habitation enclosed on three sides by a 
court1 while like most feudal           
dwellings1 the central donjon shares one
 of its sides with the exterior  of the 
whole4 ,the central part is adorned with
 an unexampled profusion  of            
dormer-windows1 turrets1 carved chimneys
 and pinnacles1 besides  innumerable    
mouldings and sculptures1 above all of  
which rises the  double lantern of the  
tower containing the principal          

staircase4    ,it is a forest of        
campaniles1 chimneys1 sky-lights1 domes 
and  towers1 in lace-work and open-work1
 twisted according to a caprice  which  
excludes neither harmony nor unity1     
writes ,m4 ,loiseleur4 ,the  beautiful  
open-work tower of the large staircase  
dominates the entire  mass of pinnacles 
and steeples1 and bathes in the blue sky
 its colossal  fleur-de-lis1 the last   
point of the highest pinnacle among     
pinnacles1  the highest crown among all 
crowns4    ,we must take ,chambord for  
what it is1 an ancient ,gothic chteau   
dressed out in great measure according  
to the fashion of the  ,renaissance4 ,in
 no other place is the transition from  
one style to  another revealed in a way 
so impressive and nave2 nowhere else    
does  the brilliant butterfly of the    
,renaissance show itself more deeply    
imprisoned in the heavy ,gothic         
chrysalis4 ,chambord1 by its plan  which
 is essentially ,french and feudal1 and 
by its enclosure flanked  with towers1  

and by the breadth of its heavy mass1   
slavishly recalls  the medival manoirs4 
,by its lavish profusion of             
ornamentation it  suggests the creations
 of the sixteenth century as far as the 
beginning  of the roofs2 it is ,gothic  
as far as the platform2 and it belongs  
to  the ,renaissance when it comes to   
the roof itself4 ,it may be compared  to
 a rude ,french knight of the fourteenth
 century1 who wears on his  cuirass some
 fine ,italian embroideries1 and on his 
head the plumed felt  of ,francis       
,i41--assuredly an incongruous costume1 
but one not without  character4    ,with
 a sympathetic denial of any extreme    
over-technical admiration1  writes ,mr4 
,cook in his ,old ,touraine1 ,viollet le
 ,duc gives just that  intelligible     
account of the ,chteau which is a       
compromise between the  unmeaning       
adulation of its contemporary critics   
and the ignorance of  the casual        
traveller4 ',chambord1' says he1 'must  
be taken for what it  is2 for an attempt

 of the architect to reconcile the      
methods of two  opposite principles1--to
 unite in one building the fortified    
castle  of the ,middle ,ages and the    
pleasure-palace of the sixteenth        
century4'  ,granted that the attempt was
 an absurd one1 it must be remembered   
that  the ,renaissance was but just     
beginning in ,france2 ,gothic art seemed
  out of date1 yet none other had       
established itself to take its place4   
,in literature1 in morals1 as in        
architecture1 this particular phase in  
the civilization of the time was        
evident1 and if only this transition    
period is realized in all its meanings1 
with all the 'monstrous and  inform'    
characteristics that were inevitably a  
part of it1 the mystery  of this strange
 sixteenth century in ,france is half   
explained4    ,illustration3 ,,plan ,,of
 ,,the ,,ch,,teau ,,of ,,chambord    ,at
 ,chambord1 writes ,mrs4 ,pattison1 in  
her ,renaissance of ,art in  ,france1   
which was building in #aebf1 the stories

 are1 it is true1  forcibly indicated1  
but the whole building is pulled        
together in ,gothic  fashion by the     
towers of the corps de logis1 and by    
those which  flank the pavilions or     
wings which stretch out on either side  
of the  main body4 ,in a building of the
 size of ,chambord the result of this   
treatment is hardly satisfactory1 for   
the lines of the wings to right  and    
left of the main body seem to droop away
 from the heavy towers on  either side4 
,inside the court1 however1 the         
unpleasant effect1 even at  ,chambord1  
disappears1 for the apparent length of  
the wings is greatly  abbreviated by the
 effect of the two spiral staircases    
which run up  outside the building at   
the internal angles on opposite sides4  
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxviii        
,,chambord3 ,,francis ,i4 ,,wing        
,chambord is1 indeed1 throughout truly  
typical of the earlier stage  of the new
 ,renaissance movement4 ,in the general 
arrangement1 in the  ordonnance1 late   

,gothic caprice and fantastic love of   
the unforeseen  rule triumphant4 ,the   
older portions of the ,chteau1 the      
seemingly  irregular assemblages of half
 ,oriental turrets and spires1 are      
debased  ,gothic1 full of audacious     
disregard of all outward seeming of     
order4  ,the architect1 instead of      
seeking to bring home to the eye the    
general  law1 the plan on which the     
whole is grouped1 has wilfully obscured 
and  concealed it beneath the           
obviousness of the wild and daring      
conceits  heaped above4                 
,illustration3 ,,view ,,of ,,chambord   
7#aegf7      ,,engraving ,,from ,,du    
,,cerceau    ,but even at ,chambord the 
mark is set which promises other days4  
,it  is the transition moment2 ,gothic  
fancy may wildly distribute ornament    
and obscure design1 but the ornament    
which it distributes is ,gothic no      
longer4 ,the obscna which haunt the     
cathedrals of the middle ages1  which   
infest the earlier towers of ,amboise1  

and linger defilingly about  ,gaillon1  
are banished4 ,in their place come faint
 foliated traceries and  arabesques in  
low relief1 enriching every surface1    
disturbing none1  moving with melodious 
adaptation of subtle line1 winding1     
falling1  rising in sympathy with every 
swiftly ascending shaft or hollowing    
curve4    ,it is not now possible to    
approach ,chambord carrying in our eyes 
a  vision of the great ,renaissance     
palace1 as engraved by ,du ,cerceau in  
his ,plus excellens ,btimens de la      
,france4 ,burdened by the weighty       
labors of ,louis ,,xiv41 weakened by    
eight improving years at the hands  of  
,stanislaus ,leszczynski1 mutilated by  
,marshal ,saxe1 the ,chambord  which we 
now go out from ,blois to visit is not  
the ,chambord of ,francis  ,i4 ,the     
broad foundations and heaving arches    
which rose proudly out of  the waters of
 the moat no longer impress the eye4    
,the truncated mass  squats ignobly upon
 the turf1 the waters of the moat are   

gone2 gone  are the deep embankments    
crowned with pierced balustrades2 gone  
is the  no-longer-needed bridge with its
 guardian lions4 ,all the outlying work 
which gave the actual building space and
 dignity has vanished1 and we  enter    
directly from the park outside to what  
was once but the inner  court of the    
,chteau4    ,it is not until we stand   
within this inner court--until we have  
passed  through the lines of building   
which enclose it on the western side1   
and  which show the unmistakable signs  
of stupid and brutal destruction1  that 
we can believe again in the departed    
glories of ,chambord4  ,lippomano1      
ambassador from ,venice to ,france in   
the reign of ,henry ,,iii41  turned out 
of his way to visit ,chambord4 ',on the 
#bast1' he says1 'we  made a slight     
detour in order to visit the ,chteau of 
,chambord1 or1  more strictly speaking1 
the palace commenced by ,francis ,i41   
and truly  worthy of this great prince4 
,i have seen many magnificent buildings 

in the course of my life1 but never     
anything more beautiful or more  rich4  
,they say that the piles for the        
foundations of the ,chteau in  this     
marshy ground have alone cost #cjj1jjj  
francs4 ,the effect is very  good on all
 sides4 ,the number of the rooms is as  
remarkable as their  size1 and indeed   
space was not wanting to the architect1 
since the  wall that surrounds the park 
is seven leagues in length4 ,the park   
itself is full of forests1 of lakes1 of 
streams1 of pasture-land1 and  of       
hunting-grounds1 and in the centre rises
 the ,chteau with its gilt  battlements1
 with its wings covered in with lead1   
with its pavilions1  its towers and its 
corridors1 even as the romancers        
describe to us the  abode of ,morgana or
 of ,alcinos4 ,more than half remains to
 be done1  and ,i doubt it will ever be 
finished1 for the kingdom is completely 
exhausted by war4 ,we left much         
marvelling1 or rather let us say        
thunderstruck4'    ,illustration3       

,,plate ,,lxxix      ,,chambord3        
,,staircase1 ,,francis ,i4 ,,wing    ,to
 destroy the character of ,chambord from
 the outside was not  difficult4 ,it was
 not easy to tame the rude defiance of  
,vincennes1 or  give facility to the    
reserved and guarded approaches of      
,gaillon4 ,solid  rectangular towers1   
heavy machicolations1 and ponderous     
drawbridges  offer a stubborn resistance
 to schemes of ruthless innovation2 but 
,chambord was no fortress1 it was a     
country house4 ,the very site is        
motived by no other reason than the     
pleasures of the chase4 ,the            
battlements of ,gaillon gave back the   
echoes of the trumpet1 but the          
galleries of ,chambord resounded with   
the huntsman's bugle4    ,the           
construction of these galleries in      
itself points to the rapid  progress of 
social change4 ,there are not only such 
as may be called  covered passages      
communicating from the spiral staircases
 with the  rooms on each story2         

galleries which have their special cause
 in actual  need and daily use2 but the 
roofs of the range of one-storied       
buildings  which connect the side wings 
on the north and south1 and which run   
along the western front1 are finished up
 from the cornice with a  balustrade1   
and turned into a promenade for         
courtiers4    ,yet in spite of these    
marked indications of change the ancient
 spirit  lingers4 ,the unrestrained     
freedom of grotesque caprice finds      
expression  everywhere1 even in those   
later portions which belong to another  
reign4  ,pierre le ,nepveu has left on  
all his work the imprint of profuse and 
fantastic force2 the outlines of his    
cupolas strike the sky with an  audacity
 which seems to defy the adverse        
criticism of those who moved  within the
 limits of more cautious rule4          
,symmetrical balance1 for which  the    
masters of a succeeding era sought1 and 
by which they strove to  harmonize every
 portion of their design1 obliged them  

to reject the  aid of those varied      
resources which ,le ,nepveu shrewdly    
marshaled with a  vigorous hand4        
,chambord is in truth a brilliant       
example of transition4 ,the early       
,renaissance is there to be seen1 taking
 on itself the burden beneath  which the
 failing forces of the ,gothic spirit   
had sunk4 ,but the  intention of the    
work is wholly foreign to the main      
direction taken  by the new movement1   
and condemned1 by its very nature1 to   
remain1 in  spite of the wonderful      
genius lavished upon it1 an unfruitful  
tour de  force4    ,the interior of the 
palace is now but a great wilderness of 
hewn  stone4 ,the sixteenth century     
treasures of art which had adorned it   
were all stolen or destroyed in the     
,revolution1 the spoliation being  so   
complete that it was stripped of even   
the carved wainscots1 panels1  doors and
 shutters1 and the four hundred and     
forty enormous apartments  now give only
 the impression of a vast and           

comfortless barrack4 ,in the  original  
arrangement of the interior all ideas of
 practical defense  were sacrificed to  
produce a pleasure palace1 and it was   
furnished with  innumerable secret      
stairways 7there are thirteen great     
staircases1 not  to mention numberless  
smaller ones7 isolated turrets and a    
hundred  facilities for what the gallant
 ,viollet le ,duc calls les intrigues   
secrtes de cette cour jeune et tout     
occupe de galanteries4    ,on the whole1
 writes ,mr4 ,henry ,james1 ,chambord   
makes a great  impression--there is a   
dignity in its desolation4 ,it speaks   
with a  muffled but audible voice of the
 vanished monarchy1 which had been so   
strong1 so splendid1 but today has      
become a sort of fantastic vision4 ,i   
thought1 while ,i lingered there1 of all
 the fine things that it takes  to make 
up such a monarchy2 and how one of them 
is a superfluity of  mouldering empty   
palaces4                                
,a ,change in                           

,the ,brochure ,series      ,the        
attention of subscribers to ,,the       
,,brochure ,,series is again called to  
the fact that1 beginning with the       
,seventh ,volume1 ,january1 #aija1 the  
magazine is to be enlarged1 and that the
 subscription price will then  be       
increased to #a4jj a year1 and the price
 of single copies to ten  cents each4   
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxx           
,,chambord3 ,,from ,,the ,,west         
,,louis ,,xvi4 ,,sconces                
,illustration3 ,,from ,,fontainebleau   
,illustration3 ,,from ,,versailles      
,illustration3 ,,from ,,douai           
,illustration3 ,,from ,,fontainebleau   
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxxi          
,,chambord3 ,,the ,,roofs               
,illustration3 ,,from ,,fontainebleau   
,illustration3 ,,from ,,versailles      
,illustration3 ,,from ,,versailles      
,illustration3 ,,from ,,versailles      
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,lxxxii         
,,chambord3 ,,dormers ,,and ,,chimneys  
,transcriber's ,note3      ,italics are 

indicated by underscores4    ,small     
capitals have been rendered in full     
capitals4    ,ligatures oe have been    
converted into oe4    ,a number of minor
 spelling errors have been corrected    
without note4