Inner Courtyard, Cour Carrée – Paris, France

In my photographs from yesterday, I featured an ornate but restrained transformation of a castle into a palace. Walk though the main archway entrance and the interior courtyard of the Cour Carrée morphs into something considerably more elaborate.

According to Wikipedia, Italian Mannerism influenced the transformation into a Renaissance-style palace in the mid-15th century. The three sides of the square courtyard are more restrained, while the pictured west facade is the most over-the-top.

Architecturally, this is more ornamentation that I prefer, but it’s certainly noteworthy. It looks like something that kings with all the money in the world would create to brag about their status.

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