Although they’re called “French” doors, they actually orginated in Greece and Italy. But in the 17th cen, France, inspirted by their victories in the Italian wars, appropriated them as their own.
The glass permits light to travel so they are also used indoors, too.
In 1917 at the age of 48, Henri Matisse went to Nice to recuperate from a bad bronchitis. He stayed at the Beau Rivage, then a modest hotel. The weather was so cold that Matisse couldn’t go out so he painted indoors.
Matisse later transferred to the Hotel de la Mediterranee, another modest hotel that was demolished during the 1930s.
The French Window at Nice by Matisse, 1919
Woman at the Window by Matisse
Through an Open Window by Matisse
The Closed Window by Matisse c 1919
Woman on a Sofa by Matisse
Related: French Riviera + Italian Wars +
The Narrative Within 