RENAISSANCE/2

FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE FRANCE OF ROI SOLEIL

Throughout the 1500s the extreme religious strictness imposed by the Protestant Reformation and then the Counter Reformation brought about a backlash resulting in more austere forms and the triumph of black, and in Catholic areas the imitation of models imposed by the Spanish court.

At the same time, however, the opening of trade with the Far East promoted the extensive spread of new raw materials such as indigo, which in a few dacades replaced woad, and cochineal, inported from America.