rancis I conceived the idea that here was a
wealth of scaffolding upon which to graft some of his Renaissance
luxuries and, by a process of "restoration" (perhaps an unfortunate word
for him to have employed, since it meant the razing of the fine tower
built by Charles V), added somewhat to the splendours thereof, though in
a fickle moment, as was his wont, allowed a gap of a dozen years to
intervene between the outlining of his project and the terrifically
earnest work which finally resulted in the magnificent structure
accredited to him, though indeed it meant the demolition of the original
edifice.

It was at this period that Charles V entered into the ambitious part
which Francis was to henceforth play in the Louvre, so perhaps the
interruption was pardonable.

CHAPTER VI

THE LOUVRE OF FRANCIS I AND ITS SUCCESSORS

One can attribute the demise of the Old Louvre to the coming of Charles
V to Paris in 1539. This royal residence, hastily put in order to
receive his august presence, seemed so coldly inconvenient and
inhospitable to his host, Francis I, that that monarch decided forthwith
upon its complete reconstruction and enlargement. Owing to various
combinations of circumstances the actual work of reconstruction was put
off until 1546, thus the New Louvre as properly belongs to the reign of
Henri II as to that of his father.

Francis I, more than any other European monarch of his time, or, indeed,
before or since, left his mark as an architect of supreme tastes over
every edifice with which he came into personal contact. His mania was
for building--when it was not for affairs of the heart--and so daring
was he that when he could not get an old fabric to remodel he would
brave all, as did Louis XIV at Versailles, and erect a dream palace in
the midst of a desert. This he did at Chambord in the Sologne. At Paris
his difficulties were perhaps no less, but he had his materials and his
workmen ready at hand.

Francis's repairs and embellishments to the Old Louvre were by no means
perfunctory, but he saw possibilities greater than he was able to
perform with the means at hand. He first razed the central tower, or
_donjon_, and scarce before the departure of his royal guest, was
already dreaming of replacing the entire fabric with another which
should bear the same name. One has read of the monarch's thoughts when
he was awaiting the coming to Paris of his old enemy in the peninsula;
how he regretted the m