English Middle Renaissance- Restoration

The Middle Renaissance in the English Period was a time of restoration. Sir Christopher Wren, the most well known English architect, was the one who stepped up and set new standards for design such as zoning and construction regulations. One of his greatest accomplishments was the St. Paul's cathedral.

St. Paul Cathedral London, England

During the time of William and Mary the cancellation of the Edict of Nantes occurred by Louis XIV which denied equality to the Protestants. It was the effort to grant religious liberties to the French Protestants. While that was happening, French furniture craftsmen came to England to complete the Baroque period. They still had the outline of the Baroque style but without all of the decoration and ornamentation. How the William and Mary period came about was when Mary married her husband William III. There were new standards for furniture, comfort being one of them. You start seeing a lot of upholstery and walnut. The legs of furniture were straight turned legs with a low cross stretcher or a curved cross stretcher.

Here are the William and Mary chairs. The detail on the back of the chair and the upholstery really represent what this period is about.

This is an example of a Settee chair. It has very elaborate upholstery and low stretchers.

Another popular designer during this time was Thomas Chippendale. He is one of the most well known names in furniture design. His style is very different and every piece is unique. The Chippendale chair has some influence from the Queen Anne. The chairs have cabriole legs, they are heavier and have more of a curve to them.

These pictures Wendy showed on the powerpoint are very helpful in seeing the different types of Chippendale chairs. (Gothic, Chinese and Ribbon left to right).

Here are some examples of interiors with Chippendale furniture today. I love this design because it stands out and makes for a great addition to a room.

For this blog I looked at Katrina's. I liked how she talked about the Early, Middle and Late English period and highlighted the main points of each. It is interesting to see how design changed throughout. I also looked at Ariana's. She talked about the style of the homes such as the tudor house. She also talked about how the English got their influence and how they came about this certain style.