Chapter III.

The renaissance in Italy:  Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaele—­Church of St. Peter, contemporary great artists—­The Italian Palazzo—­Methods of gilding, inlaying and mounting Furniture—­Pietra-dura and other enrichments—­Ruskin’s criticism.  The renaissance in France:  Francois I. and the Chateau of Fontainebleau—­Influence on Courtiers-Chairs of the time—­Design of Cabinets—­M.E.  Bonnaffe on The Renaissance—­Bedstead of Jeanne d’Albret—­Deterioration of taste in time of Henry IV.—­Louis XIII.  Furniture—­Brittany woodwork.  The renaissance in the Netherlands:  Influence of the House of Burgundy on Art—­The Chimney-piece at Bruges, and other casts of specimens in South Kensington Museum.  The renaissance in Spain:  The resources of Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—­Influence of Saracenic Art—­High-backed leather chairs—­The Carthusian Convent at Granada.  The renaissance in Germany:  Albrecht Duerer—­Famous Steel Chair of Augsburg—­German seventeenth century carving in St. Saviour’s Hospital.  The renaissance in England:  Influence of Foreign Artists in the time of Henry VIII.—­End of Feudalism—­Hampton Court Palace—­Linen pattern Panels—­Woodwork in the Henry VII.  Chapel at Westminster Abbey—­Livery Cupboards at Hengrave—­Harrison quoted—­The “parler”—­Alteration in English customs—­Chairs of the sixteenth century—­Coverings and Cushions of the time, extract from old Inventory—­South Kensington Cabinet—­Elizabethan Mirror at Goodrich Court—­Shaw’s “Ancient Furniture”—­The Glastonbury Chair—­Introduction of Frames into England—­Characteristics of Native Woodwork—­Famous Country Mansions—­Alteration in design of Woodwork and Furniture—­Panelled Rooms in South Kensington—­The Charterhouse—­Gray’s Inn Hall and Middle Temple—­The Hall of the Carpenters’ Company—­The Great Bed of Ware—­Shakespeare’s Chair—­Penshurst Place.

Chapter IV.

English Home Life in the Reign of James I.—­Sir Henry Wootton quoted—­Inigo Jones and his work—­Ford Castle—­Chimney Pieces in South Kensington Museum—­Table in the Carpenters’ Hall—­Hall of the Barbers’ Company—­The Charterhouse—­Time of Charles I.—­Furniture at Knole—­Eagle House, Wimbledon—­Mr. Charles Eastlake—­Monuments at Canterbury and Westminster—­Settles, Couches, and Chairs of the Stuart period—­Sir Paul Pindar’s House—­Cromwellian Furniture—­The Restoration—­Indo-Portuguese Furniture—­Hampton Court Palace—­Evelyn’s description—­The Great Fire of London—­Hall of the Brewers’ Company—­Oak Panelling of the time—­Grinling Gibbons and his work—­The Edict of Nantes—­Silver Furniture at Knole—­William iii. and Dutch influence—­Queen Anne—­Sideboards, Bureaus, and Grandfather’s Clocks—­Furniture at Hampton Court.

Chapter V.