Part I: Introducing France in VS .NET

Encoding GTIN - 12 in VS .NET Part I: Introducing France

embellished, relying on load-bearing rounded arches and windows for ornamentation By the end of the period, around 1100, the facades and interiors of some churches were being covered with sculptures designed to highlight architecture instead of separate works of art Many pieces of Romanesque sculpture are solid, rigid, unyielding, and lifeless, yet the capitals of the columns often are charming and decorative Bas-reliefs, especially those depicting the Last Judgment, came into vogue Reliefs enveloped column capitals and were used to adorn tympanums arched spaces over doorways or portals To see the true remains of the Romanesque style, you d have to go into remote France, beyond the province of this guide A prime example would be the Abbey of Fontenay in Burgundy

Of far more interest to the average visitor is the coming of the French Gothic style to all the land This late medieval period, roughly from 1100 to 1500, still centered on the church, where artisans created stained glass, statues, choir screens, and elaborate, dramatic facades Gothic figures were more realistic than Romanesque ones but still highly stylized, with exaggerated gestures and features The wide Gothic churches and cathedrals included a choir, a circular ambulatory, radiating chapels, pointed arches that carried more weight than rounded ones, clustered (rather than monolithic) columns, cross vaults, and ribbed ceilings Wide, soaring windows are the most salient Gothic advance In a Romanesque church the space would have been devoted to thick stone walls The new Gothic design required the addition of exterior flying buttresses to support the weight of the very heavy roof and ceiling In this book, we preview some of the greatest achievements of the Gothic era, none more glorious than the Cath drale de Notre-Dame in Paris with its flying buttresses, rose windows, and gargoyles For stained glass, Saint-Chapelle, near Notre-Dame, is reason enough to fly over Of course, the 150 glorious stained-glass windows of the Cath drale of Chartres are another great blooming of this art form When the 14th-century papal schism encouraged many bishops of Europe to recognize Avignon instead of Rome as the legitimate seat of the papacy, this capital of Provence became a virtual building site A fortress was required that would also be a palace, and the Gothic Palais des Papes fit the bill

The French invasion of Italy in 1494 brought the ideals and aesthetic of the Italian Renaissance to France This form of art and architecture reached its peak under the reign of Fran ois I, a true Renaissance prince who invited not only Cellini but also Leonardo da Vinci to his court at

Amboise in the Loire Valley The Renaissance lasted roughly from 1500 until 1630 New political and social conditions encouraged aristocratic residences to be filled with sunlight, tapestries, paintings, and music Adaptations of Gothic architecture, mingled with strong doses of Italian Renaissance, were applied to secular residences more suited to peace than to war This is particularly evident at Azay Le Rideau, one of the loveliest of the Loire ch teaux Begun in 1518, its Italian influences are clearly visible, and it is obvious that this castle was built for pleasure living not as a fortress to protect its inhabitants The artists of the School of Fontainebleau blended late Italian Renaissance style with French elements when redecorating the Ch teau de Fontainebleau Foremost among Renaissance ch teaux in France is the Ch teau de Chambord in the Loire Valley Launched in 1519, it is the largest ch teau in the Loire Valley and was the abode of the likes of Henri II and Catherine de M dici along with Louis XIII Renaissance architectural features relied on symmetry and a sense of proportion, with steeply pitched roofs often studded with dormer windows projecting from their sloping roofs Classical capitals such as Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian came back into vogue

From classicism to decorative rococo (1630 1800)

In the early 17th century, many of Paris s distinctive Italianate baroque domes were created Louis XIV employed Le Vau, Perrault, both Mansarts, and Bruand for his buildings, plus Le Notre for the rigidly intelligent layouts of his gardens at Versailles Meanwhile, court painters, such as Boucher, depicted allegorical shepherds and cherubs at play, while Georges de la Tour used techniques of light and shadow garnered from Caravaggio during a sojourn in Italy Ch teaux designed in this era included the superexpensive Vaux-le-Vicomte and the even more lavish royal residence at Versailles But by the 18th century, French architects returned to a restrained and dignified form of classicism Public parks in Paris and other leading cities were laid out, sometimes requiring the demolition of acres of twisted medieval sectors Roman styles of painting, sculpture, and dress became the rage