-1. Renaissance grafted on Byzantine. 2. Renaissance grafted on
Gothic. 3. Renaissance grafted on Renaissance, and this last the veteran
art critic calls "double darkness," one of his characteristic terms of
condemnation which many of us cannot follow, but the spirit of which we
can appreciate.

Speaking generally of the character of ornament, we find that whereas in
the furniture of the Middle Ages, the subjects for carving were taken from
the lives of the saints or from metrical romance, the Renaissance carvers
illustrated scenes from classical mythology, and allegories, such as
representations of elements, seasons, months, the cardinal virtues, or the
battle scenes and triumphal processions of earlier times.

[Illustration: Carved Walnut Wood Italian Chairs. 16th Century. (_From
Photos of the originals in the South Kensington Museum._)]

[Illustration: Ebony Cabinet. With marble mosaics, and bronze gilt
ornaments, Florentine work. Period: XVII. Century.]

The outlines and general designs of the earlier Renaissance cabinets were
apparently suggested by the old Roman triumphal arches and sarcophagi;
afterwards these were modified and became varied, elegant and graceful,
but latterly as the period of decline was marked, the outlines as shewn in
the two chairs on the preceding page became confused and dissipated by
over-decoration.

The illustrations given of specimens of furniture of Italian Renaissance
render lengthy descriptions unnecessary. So far as it has been possible to
do so, a selection has been made to represent the different classes of
work, and as there are in the South Kensington Museum numerous examples of
cassone fronts, panels, chairs, and cabinets which can be examined, it is
easy to form an idea of the decorative woodwork made in Italy during the
period we have been considering.

[Illustration: Venetian State Chair. Carved and Gilt Frame, Upholstered
with Embroidered Velvet. Date about 1670. (_In the possession of H.M. the
Queen at Windsor Castle._)]

The Renaissance In France.

From Italy the great revival of industrial art travelled to France.
Charles VIII., who for two years had held Naples (1494-96), brought
amongst other artists from Italy, Bernadino de Brescia and Domenico de
Cortona, and Art, which at this time was in a feeble, languishing state in
France, began to revive. Francis I. employed an Italian architect to build
the Chateau of Fontainebleau, which had hitherto been but an