It i- to he observed that the whole passage does not indicate thai distinct Egyptian idolatry was practiced
bj th( Israelites. It is very remarkable that the only
false gods mentioned as worshipped by them in the desert should he probably Moloch and Chiun and Rem- phan, of which the latter two were foreign divinities worshipped in Egypt. From this we may reasonably infer that while the Israelites sojourned in Egypt there was also a great si ranger-population in the Lower ( !oun- try, and therefore that it is probable that thentheShep-
herds slid occupied the land. See Schroder. U< Taber-
nac. Molochi et Stella l><i Rempk. (Marb. 1745); Mains. Disseri.de Kium et Remphan (1763); Journ, Sac. Lit. Oct 1852, p. L039; Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 669, 670. See < iniv.
Renaissance (Ft. new birth), a term used alike in architecture, sculpture, and ornamental art, to designate a revival period or style after the Middle Ages. The Renaissance had its origin in Italy, where, at best, Goth- ic architecture secured but a precarious hold. The dis- early in the 15th century) of the productions of the ancients in statuary and painting, and the bring- ing to light of Long-hidden stores of Greek and Latin MSS. (as, for instance, Vitruvius on the architecture ol the ancients), could not fail to bring Roman buildings into promiuent notice, and to predispose the public mind in favor of the classic style. A new system was con- sequently developed, during the first stages of which (namely, the Transition period) the elements of Roman architecture came again into use, although the tonus which belong to the Later-Romanesque period— as, for instance, the division of the window-arches by mullions
were nol entirely abandoned. Starting in Italy, this new style reached il- /eiiith iii that country ill the
course of the same century. Although derived from that of Italy, each country had its peculiar Renaissance,
described accordingly as French, German, and English Renaissance, preserving a general likeness, but each ex- hibiting traits exclusively its own.
1. Italian. At the early epoch of its exist
new style of architecture displays not so much an alter- ation in the arrangement of the spaces and of the main features of the buildings as in the system of ornamen- tation and in the aspect of the profiles. During the ear- ly period the endeavor was maintained to adapt classi- cal forms with more or less freedom to modern buildings, while later (in the L6th century . a scheme based on an- cient architecture was universally prescriptive. Two distinct styles belong to this tir-i period, viz. the Early Florentine ami the Early Venetian. In the Roman Re- naissance, the system of the second period, which Con- fines itself more closely to classical elements, is more prevalent. The decoration of the interiors id' the build- ings of the Renaissance is copied from ancient Roman architecture. The rooms are either vaulted or have flat ceilings; hut in both cases they are adorned with paintings, after the manner id' those discovered in the Baths of Titus. Ornamented panels were employed in large palaces for horizontal ceilings, as also in church- es, though in the latter case they were more often ap- plied to cupola vaultings, as notably in St. Pel' Rome.
2. French. — France was the first to introduce the new- style north of the Alps. Fra G'lOCOndo, an Italian artist, having been summoned thither by Louis XII. Giocon- do erected for cardinal D'Amboise, the minister of that monarch, the celebrated Chateau Gaillon. At this time the Flamboyant (q. v.) style was still in its vigor, and the consequence was that a blending of the two styles
Centra] Pavilion of the Tnileriea (as designed by De- lorme).
RENANAH
1039
RENEE
temporarily prevailed. After the period of Philibert Delorme, who completed the chapel of the Chateau d'Anet in the Renaissance style (1552), the Gothic style was, as a rule, abandoned. At the same time, the gen- eral arrangement of the Gothic churches was retained, and it was only the Renaissance syrstem of decoration which was substituted for the Gothic. The ground-plan, the proportions, and the whole structure, with its fly- ing buttresses, pinnacles, clustered columns, and deeply recessed portals, are borrowed from the pointed style. It was only in the details and in the ornamentation that the Renaissance was followed. The Tuileries, as built for Catherine de Medicis, is a great example of French Renaissance when at its best. In its elevation richness is perceptible without excess, and symmetry is attained without stiffness : in fact, it presents a design in which aesthetic laws are fully considered, and the details har- moniously, if not magnificently, executed.
3. German. — The Renaissance style was not employed in Germany before the middle of the 16th century, and the most noteworthy instances of it are the Belvedere of Ferdinand I on the Hradschin at Prague, and the so- called Otto Henry buildings at Heidelberg Castle. In Germany, as in other countries, the elements of the pre- ceding style are intermingled with those of the Renais- sance during the early period of its prevalence. The fault of the German Renaissance style is a certain heavi- ness— an exuberance, not to say extravagance, in its con- structive character and decorative details.
4. Spanish. — In Spain an Early Renaissance style appears, a kind of transitional Renaissance, belonging to the first half of the 16th century. It consists of the application of Moorish and pointed-arch forms in con- junction with those of classical antiquity. In this way a conformation was produced which was peculiar to Spain, and the style is characterized by bold lightness, by luxuriance in decoration, and by a spirit of romance. In the reign of Charles V, this ornate Early Renais- sance style gave place to a later one, which, in reality, belongs to the Rococo style. Among the Renaissance edifices of Spain may be mentioned the upper gallery of the cloister of the Convent of Huerta, the town- hall of Saragossa and of Seville, and the Alcazar at To- ledo.