Chapter 16

French Renaissance to the Present
Arriving in France seventy-five (75) years after first appearing in Italy.

Early French designs grafted classical forms onto Gothic structures. The Gothic tradition of stone cutting and churches soaring heavenward, resulted in vertical, picturesque designs, mostly chateaus for the wealthy. Churches had already been built. The Classical period of the 17th Century continued into the 18th, producing clarity and simplicity, a more masculine design, while the Late Period brought the Rococo and its fussiness, a more feminine sense of detailing, if we might be permitted this form of generalization. The 19th Century, following the Revolution of 1789, brought grandiose monuments, which became exclamation points on a landscape of axial development in many cities, particularly in Paris.