Exterior view

During the regency of Marie de M�dicis, architects like Salomon de Brosse, Fran�ois Mansart, and Louis Le Vau conducted intensive research into modern methods for resolving traditional building problems. They developed models of palace and church buildings which were to have lasting influence, not only for French Baroque architecture.

At Blois, Fran�ois Mansart made the dome the main feature of the central building of Gaston of Orl�ans’s new château, the Gaston apartment, placing a grand staircase underneath it. The two features fit together naturally and were so well established that Mansart stressed them in his proposals for the Louvre in 1664-65.