«Toutefois moderne, sans tenir de l’antique». Critical views on Gothic and Renaissance interaction in Early Modern French architecture between the 16th and 18th centuries

One of the characteristics of early Modern French Architecture is the simultaneous presence of Gothic and Renaissance in the same building. In 19th and early 20th century historiography, such a coexistence was often interpreted as a resistance of the native to the foreign style, from two opposing points of view. The diffusion of classical orders and ornaments has been seen both as the corruption of Gothic, because of ornaments not related to structures, and as its ‘civilization’, thanks to a cultivated language inspired by Antiquity. On the contrary, several contemporary sources, including letters or diaries, show a general admiration for architecture made at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, while the accounts confirm the collaboration between French and Italian artists on the same projects. By means of an analysis of 16th, 17th and 18th descriptions of the Château de Gaillon, this paper explores the contemporary perception and opinions on early Modern French architecture, in order to identify when and why the collective taste changed, and how Gothic and Renaissance entered into a conflictual relationship that apprised the historiographical position throughout the following centuries.