sed over console tables and as
panels. The paneled overdoors reached to the cornice, and windows were
also treated in this way. Windows and doors were not looked upon merely
as openings to admit air and light and human beings, but formed a part
of the scheme of decoration of the room. There were beautiful brackets
and candelabra of ormolu to light the rooms, and the boudoirs and
salons, with their white and gold and beautifully decorated walls and
gilded furniture, gave an air of gayety and richness, extravagance and
beauty.

An apartment in the time of Louis XV usually had a vestibule, rather
severely decorated with columns or pilasters and often statues in
niches. The first ante-room was a waiting-room for servants and was
plainly treated, the woodwork being the chief decoration. The second
ante-room had mirrors, console tables, carved and gilded woodwork, and
sometimes tapestry was used above a wainscot. Dining-rooms were
elaborate, often having fountains and plants in the niches near the
buffet. Bedrooms usually had an alcove, and the room, not counting the
alcove, was an exact square. The bed faced the windows and a large
mirror over a console table was just opposite it. The chimney faced the
principal entrance.

A "_chambre en niche_" was a room where the bed space was not so large
as an alcove. The designs for sides of rooms by Meissonier, Blondel,
Briseux Cuilles and others give a good idea of the arrangement and
proportions of the different rooms. The cabinets or studies, and the
_garde robes_, were entered usually from doors near the alcove. The
ceilings were painted by Boucher and others in soft and charming colors,
with cupids playing in the clouds, and other subjects of the kind. Great
attention was given to clocks and they formed an important and
beautiful part of the decoration.

The natural consequence of the period of excessive rococo with its
superabundance of curves and ornament, was that, during the last years
of Louis's reign, the reaction slowly began to make itself felt. There
was no sudden change to the use of the straight line, but people were
tired of so much lavishness and motion in their decoration. There were
other influences also at work, for Robert Adam had, in England,
established the classic taste, and the excavations at Pompeii were
causing widespread interest and admiration. The fact is proved that what
we call Louis XVI decoration was well known before the death of Louis
XV, by hi