[Illustration: No. 107. Ste. Marie, Nevers. Louis XIII. Example of Barocco (Flemish influence).] [Illustration: No. 108. Upholstered Chair. Louis XIII.] Ceilings were modelled in stucco and sub-divided into compartments, which were richly moulded, and in some cases decorated with paintings. During the reign of Louis XIII, chairs were made more comfortable by being upholstered in velvet, tapestry or needlework, instead of being smothered with carving. The frames were covered by velvet or other material, leaving only the legs and arms visible, and these were but slightly carved. _Louis XIV_ In France the Renaissance reached its highest degree of splendour in the reign of Louis XIV. [Illustration: No. 109. Louis XIV. Louvre, Paris, by Perrault.] The palace of Versailles, designed by Jules Hardouin Mansart, was completed, and French designers were many and famous. Amongst the most prominent were Lebrun, who was responsible for much of the interior work at Versailles, Jean and Claude Berain, Lepautre, Daniel Marot and André Charles Boule, the inventor of the particular class of inlay which bears his name. The style of Louis XIV is characteristic of its time. Love of display was manifested in every direction, but nowhere did it give rise to greater magnificence than in furniture and decoration. The employment of architectural features, with a close approximation to accepted proportions, had been the keynote of the preceding style, but the work of this period broke away from all tradition. As a departure it was quite original, and constituted a phase in the development of the Renaissance that was purely and typically French, and this particularly in its massiveness and grandeur. [Illustration: No. 110. The King’s Bedchamber, Versailles. Louis XIV.] Panelling became more varied in proportion, and heavily framed with mouldings of the Bolection type. Glass was also used in panels as at Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors, where the windows on one side of the gallery are repeated in form by mirrors in reciprocal positions. Important rooms were panelled and divided by pilasters, surmounted by entablatures. The Corinthian order was the one most frequently used. Panel mouldings were heavily and richly carved. Curved sections and facias were fluted, or carved with guilloche or leaf detail. Figures and _amorini_, heavy festoons, wreaths, cartouches and shields were among the decorative motifs. Strapwork, a survival of the preceding styles, was moulded and clothed with foliage of the acanthus variety. Ceilings were modelled in stucco and were divided into bold geometrical compartments by strongly moulded ribs. The compartments were sometimes occupied by paintings. In some cases the cornice was not taken up to the height of the ceiling, but the ceiling line was continued in form of a curve to meet the top of the cornice, forming what is known as a cove. [Illustration: No. 111. Upholstered Chair. Louis XIV.]