at
wonderful church at Brou, which is a boudoir; its vaulting and pendants
are in polychrome and gold, and the ground has been paved with enamelled
tiles, of which visible traces remain round the tombs. This gaudiness of
the roof and floor was in harmony with the filagree tracery of the
walls, the heraldic glass, and the clear windows, the profusion of
lace-like carving and coats of arms in the stone-work, blossoming with
bunches of daisies mingling with labels, mottoes, monograms, Saint
Francis' girdles and knots. The colouring was in keeping with the
alabaster retables, the black marble tombs, the pinnacled tabernacles
with their crockets of curled and dentate foliage. We can then quite
easily imagine the columns and walls painted, the ribs and bosses washed
with gold, and making a harmonious whole of this _bonbonniere_, which
indeed is a piece of jewelry rather than of architecture.

"This building at Brou was the last effort of mediaeval times, the last
rocket flung up by the flamboyant Gothic style--a Gothic which though
fallen from its glory struggled against death, fought against returning
paganism and the invading Renaissance. The era of the great cathedrals
ended in the production of this exquisite abortion, which was in its way
a masterpiece, a gem of prettiness, of ingenuity, of tormented and
coquettish taste.

"It was emblematic of the soul of the sixteenth century, already devoid
of reserve; the sanctuary, too brightly lighted, was secularized; we
here see it fully blown, and it never folded up or veiled itself again.
We discern in this a lady's bower, all paint and gold; the little
chapels (or pews) with chimney-places where Margaret of Austria could
warm herself as she heard Mass, furnished with scented cushions,
provided with sweetmeats and toys and dogs.

"Brou is a fine lady's drawing-room, not the house for all comers. Then,
naturally, with its screen-work, and the carving of the rood-loft
stretching like a lace portal across the entrance to the choir, it
invites, it almost requires some skilful tinting of the details, the
touches of colour that complete it, and harmonize it finally with the
elegance of the founder, the Princess Marguerite, whose presence is far
more conspicuous in this little church than is that of the Virgin.

"Even then it would be satisfactory to know whether the walls and
pillars at Brou ever were really painted; the contrary seems proven. But
in any case, though a touch of _