Another relic of the Middle Ages is the powerful square tower, recognizable because of its proportions, but disguised by the decorative additions of subsequent centuries - a gallery here, a wing there - on the one facing the countryside. The eye loses itself in this maze of facades, courtyards, and gardens, all of different proportions and styles, and of a complexity which rivals that of the Hofburg in Vienna. Because of an allure which is both noble and pleasing to the eye, this disorder never offends. The poetry that belongs uniquely to Fontainebleau i born of this confusion.

The period of religious wars was naturally hardly favorable for this sumptuous palace, where the most profane art glittered. But Henri IV made it his favorite residence.