+THE LOUVRE.+ By far the most important of all the architectural enterprises of this reign, in ultimate results, if not in original extent, was the beginning of a new palace to replace the old Gothic fortified palace of the Louvre. To this task Pierre Lescot was summoned in 1542, and the work of erection actually begun in 1546. The new palace, in a sumptuous and remarkably dignified classic style, was to have covered precisely the area of the demolished fortress. Only the southwest half, comprising two sides of the court, was, however, undertaken at the outset (Fig. 179). It remained for later monarchs to amplify the original scheme, and ultimately to complete, late in the present century, the most extensive and beautiful of all the royal residences of Europe. (See Figs. 181, 208, 209.) [Illustration: FIG. 179.--DETAIL OF COURT OF LOUVRE, PARIS.] Want of space forbids more than a passing reference to the rural castles of the nobility, rivalling those of the king. Among them Bury, La Rochefoucauld, Bournazel, and especially +Azay-le-Rideau+ (1520) and +Chenonceaux+ (1515-23), may be mentioned, all displaying that love of rural pleasure, that hatred of the city and its confinement, which so distinguish the French from the Italian Renaissance. +OTHER BUILDINGS.+ The +Hôtel-de-Ville+ (town hall), of Paris, begun during this reign, from plans by _Domenico di Cortona_ (?), and completed under Henry IV., was the most important edifice of a class which in later periods numbered many interesting structures. The town hall of +Beaugency+ (1527) is one of the best of minor public buildings in France, and in its elegant treatment of a simple two-storied façade may be classed with the +Maison François I.+, at Paris. This stood formerly at Moret, whence it was transported to Paris and re-erected about 1830 in somewhat modified form. The large city houses of this period are legion; we can mention only the Hôtel Carnavalet at Paris; the Hôtel Bourgtheroude at Rouen; the Hôtel d’Écoville at Caen; the archbishop’s palace at Sens, and a number of houses in Orléans. The +Tomb of Louis XII.+, at St. Denis, deserves especial mention for its fine proportions and beautiful arabesques.