ClipArt ETC
The St-Paul-St-Louis Church is located in Paris on Rue Saint Antoine in the Marais. The church was begun in 1627 and completed in 1641 and is an examaple of Jesuit architecture. It was designed based on the Gesú church in Rome. The letters IHS, as shown on the front of the church, is an abbreviation, the first three letters, of Jesus' name in Greek, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, translated into English characters. "In this style curved lines of the most varied description supersede all straight lines both in ground plans and in designs, whilst the most ordinary and characteristic embellishments are volutes, shellfish, and scrolls; groups of fruit and garlands of flowers, hangings, curtains, etc. [shown here]." "During the time that the license of the Roccoco Style prevailed, the elements of the ancient columnar orders were often misapplied, engaged columns and pilasters were frequently so connected with other side-pilasters which were recessed behind them to the number of one, two, or even three, that the cornices and, in fact, all horizontal mouldings were separately profiled over each column or pilaster [shown here]."

Façade of the Church of St. Paul and St. Louis at Paris

The St-Paul-St-Louis Church is located in Paris on Rue Saint Antoine in the Marais. The church was begun…

"The same licence in the treatment and application of forms is also displayed in secular buildings. The façades and their details were especially treated with the greatest freedom, and the original construction intention of the latter was no longer a matter of consideration. [This image] gives an example of the Roccoco style as applied to dwelling houses."

Façade at Paris in the style of Louis XV

"The same licence in the treatment and application of forms is also displayed in secular buildings.…

"The main essentials in all the Roccoco Styles are a certain independence in the ornamentation of the main architectural organism, the prominence of this ornamentation itself, and finally its shape and design. A luxurious elegance is displayed in the treatment of interiors, which was most happily employed in the embellishment of the state apartments. [This image] gives an example of the absence of connection among the various ornaments employed in the system of decoration, such as was especially peculiar to the churches of the Jesuits."

Jesuit Church, Rome

"The main essentials in all the Roccoco Styles are a certain independence in the ornamentation of the…

The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a power base by Napoleon, and later served for a brief period as the principal royal palace of the newly united Italy. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, and its doors were opened to the public as one of Florence's largest art galleries. Today, it houses several minor collections in addition to those of the Medici family, and is fully open to the public. "Columns, pilasters, and mouldings are intermingled and intertwined in a fantastic and meaningless manner, the cornices are often interrupted; the essentially component parts of the architecture are frequently mutilated; for instance, columns and wall-pilasters are executed in rustic work, i. e., formed of extensively projecting hewn stones, yet are furnished with a capital and base as is shown [in this image], which is an illustration taken from the Late Italian Renaissance. For the sake of peculiarity, the various component elements assumed a form diametrically opposed to their original designation; mere decorative and secondary details were raised to the rank of essentials, whilst the real principal forms sank to an entirely subordinate position."

Part of the Back of the Pitti Palace at Florence

The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace…