The architecture of humanism; a study in the history of taste

92 THEARCHITECTURE

OF HUMANISM

ideal,thepicturesquerenders

tasteobtuse,or

suffers

it toremain so. Likeacoarseweed,notunbeauti-

fulin itself, it tends tostifle everyopportunity

of

growth. Themodern taste forpicturesqueness

—

^as

the old painters suffice to prove

—

^brought with it

nothingthatwasnew. Nature,andman'swork,

is

full of a picturesque beauty thathasnever passed

unnoticed. Butthe aestheticcontentofthepictur-

esqueis not constructive and cannotbe extended.

Nevertheless, it is

upon this

quality, so lowinthe

scale,sounhopefulforfuturecreation,andsounhelp-

ful for an understanding of the formal past,

that

modern taste has been concentrated. This is the

noveltyandtheprejudice.

|

Thereisabeautyof artandabeautyof

Nature.

Construction.whenitrelaxestheprinciplesofdesignj

doesnotbecomeNature

:

itbecomes,moreprobably,

slovenly art.

Nature,

for a living art, is full of

suggestion

;

but

itisnonethelessaresistingforce

—

something

to be

conquered, modified,

adorned. It

isonlywhentheforceofartisspent,whenitsattempt

isroundedandcomplete,thatNature,freedfromthe

conflict, stands apart, a separate ideal. It is thus

thelastsignofanartificialcivilisationwhen

Nature

takes theplace of

art. Notwithoutreason,it was

the eighteenth century at its close

—

^that great,

finishedissueandrealisedpattern

—

^which

beganthe

natural
cult. Fora single moment, while the past