ABSTRACT
The previous three chapters outlined some of the exaggerated stories about the destruction of Sybaris and the combination of representations of opulence and dilapidated buildings in ancient Roman and Renaissance Italian architecture. Both the sybaritic stories and their images indicate luxury’s rustic forms. Rustic-type images, such as grottoes or the rough surfaces of hovels in lush surroundings, became popular in France because they provided the monarchs with aesthetic cues about how to hide what was visible to those who condemned or despised luxury from outside. Paradoxically, there is a relationship between the luxurious space and the rustic.
