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

112 THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

HUMANISM

domeofSt.Peter'sweseeaconstruction,thegrandeur

ofwhichlies preciselyinthe self-containedsense

of

its mass,andthe vigorous,;powerful contour

which

seemstocontrolandsupportitsbody. Yetactually

the very attempt to give it thischaracter,

to add

this majestically structural effect to the

resources

ofarchitecturalart,meant that MichaelAngelo

ran

counter to the scientific requirements of

a dome.

)The masswhich gives sosupreme
a senseof
power

is,

in

fact,weak. MichaelAngelowasforced

torely

uponagreatchaintoholditinitsplace,

andtothis

hissuccessors

added

five

greatchainsmore.) Hadhe

adhered,as hismodern critics w6ulddesire,

tothe

Byzantinetypeofdome,whichalone

wouldofitself

have been

structurally

sufficient, he must have

crowned St. Peter's with a mass that would

have

seemed relatively lifeless, meaningless,

and inert.

Structural

'

truth

*

mighthavebeengained.

Struc-

tural vividnesswould havebeen

sacrificed. It was

not,

therefore, from any

disregard of the essential

constructiveorfunctionalsignificanceofarchitectural

beautythathe sodesigned the

greatdome,but,on

the contrary,

from

a determination tosecure

that

beautyandtoconveyit.j Itwasonly

fromhisgrasp

oftherelativeplacefor

architectureofconstructional

fact and constructional appearance,

that he was

enabled,

insosupreme

ameasure,tosucceed. And

itwasbytheirsenseofthesame

distinctionthat

the