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

96 THEARCHITECTURE OF HUMANISM

readily

thanthe rest,intheterms

of apurely

scien-

tific

description

;

itsaims,moreover,

could

easilybe

converted into the idealsof theengineer.

Where

mechanical elements indisputably formedthe

basis,

it was

natural to pretend that mechanical results

were

thegoal; especiallyata time when,inevery

fieldofthought,thenatureofvaluewasbeing

more

orless confusedwith themeans

by whichitispro-

duced.

Now,althoughthemovementofthought

wehave

justdescribedwasinno

way

alliedto

theRomantic,

andmay

even,inameasure,beregardedasareaction

againstit,yetonecharacteristic,
at

least,the

twohad

in common, and that was

an inevitable prejudice

against

the architecture of the Renaissance. The

speciesofbuildingwhich

the

mechanical

movement

most naturally

favoured was the utilitarian—the

ingeniousbridges,theworkshops,thegreatconstruc-

tions oftriumphant industry,proudly
indifferentto

form. But,inthe

'

Battle

oftheStyles,'astheanti-

thesisbetweenGothicandPalladian
preferenceswas

atthattimepopularlycalled,theinfluencesofscience

reinforced the influences of poetry ingiving to the

mediaeval art a superior

prestige.

For the

Gothic

builders were not merely favourites of romance

;

theyhad beengreatlyoccupied withthesheer pro-

blemsofconstruction. Gothicarchitecture,strictly

speaking,came intoexistencewhentheinvention of