The art of interior decoration . There was about the interior decoration ofLouis XVI, as about the lives of aristocratic so-ciety of that time, a penetrating perfume oflove and gallantry, to which all admirers of thebeautiful must ever return for refreshment andstandards of beauty and grace. Speaking generally of the three Louis one cansay that on a background of a great variety ofwonderful inlaid woods, ivory, shell, mother-of-pearl and brass, or woods painted and gilded, fol-lowing the Italian Renaissance, or lacquered inthe manner of the Orient, were ormoulu wroughtand finely chiselled, sho
The art of interior decoration . There was about the interior decoration ofLouis XVI, as about the lives of aristocratic so-ciety of that time, a penetrating perfume oflove and gallantry, to which all admirers of thebeautiful must ever return for refreshment andstandards of beauty and grace. Speaking generally of the three Louis one cansay that on a background of a great variety ofwonderful inlaid woods, ivory, shell, mother-of-pearl and brass, or woods painted and gilded, fol-lowing the Italian Renaissance, or lacquered inthe manner of the Orient, were ormoulu wroughtand finely chiselled, showing Greek mythologicalsubjects; gods, goddesses and their insignia, with PLATE XX 185 This large studio is a marked example of comfort andinterest where the laws of appropriateness, practicableness,proportion and balance are so observed as to communicateat once a sense of restfulness. Here the comfortable antiques and beautifully propor-tioned modern furniture make an ideal combination of liv-ing-room and painters studio. 186. 55 s ^ The Periods of the Three Louis 189 garlands, wreaths, festoons, draperies, ribbons,bow-knots, rosettes and medallions of cameo,Sevres porcelain, or WedgWood paste. Amongthe lost arts of that time are inlaying as done byBoule and the finish known as Vernis Martin. Tapestries and mural paintings were framedby a marvellous system of mouldings which cov-ered ceilings and sidewalls. The colour scheme was such as would natu-rally be dictated by the general mood of artifici-ality in an age when dreams were lived and theruling classes obsessed by a passion for amuse-ments, invented to divert the mind from actuali-ties. This colour scheme was beautifully lightin tone and harmoniously gay, whether in tapes-tries, draperies and upholstery of velvets, orflowered silks, frescoes or painted furniture. Ithad the appearance of being intended to act as asoporific upon society, whose aim it was to ignorethose jarring contrasts which lay beneath the sur-face of ever
Size: 1415px × 1766px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectinteriordecoration
