IX

HALLS AND STAIRCASES


In early days the hall was the large formal room in which the main
business of the house was transacted. It played the part of court-room,
with the lord of the manor as judge. It was used for dining, living, and
for whatever entertainment the house afforded. The stairs were not a
part of it: they found a place as best they could. From the times of the
primitive ladder of the adobe dwelling to the days of the spiral
staircase carried up in the thickness of the wall, the stairway was
always a primitive affair, born of necessity, with little claim to
beauty.

With the Renaissance in Italy came the forerunner of the modern entrance
hall, with its accompanying stair. Considerations of comfort and beauty
began to be observed. The Italian staircase grew into a magnificent
affair, "L'escalier d'honneur," and often led only to the open galleries
and _salons de parade_ of the next floor. I think the finest staircases
in all the world are in the Genoese palaces. The grand staircase of the
Renaissance may still be seen in many fine Italian palaces, notably in
the Bargello in Florence. This staircase has been splendidly reproduced
by Mrs. Gardner in Fenway Court, her Italian palace in Boston. This
house is, by the way, the finest thing of its kind in America. Mrs.
Gardner has the same far-seeing interest in the furtherance of an
American appreciation of art as had the late Pierpont Morgan. She has
assembled a magnificent collection of objects of art, and she opens her
house to the public occasionally and to artists and designers
frequently, that they may have the advantage of studying the treasures.