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

114 THE

ARCHITECTUREOF HUMANISM

of constructive fact wherever theyoccur. And, if

the
Renaissancearchitects,

ontheirside, sometimes

introduced
a decorative order

where on purely

aesthetic
considerations the wall

would have

been

betterasanundividedsurface,oriftheyintroduced

adecorativeorderwhichwasill-proportionedin
itself,

or
detractedfromthespatialqualitiesofthebuilding

—

^which was, in fact, unsuccessful as decoration—

thiswemustviewasafaultratherof

practice

than

of

theory. And their tendency

to

abuse their

oppor-

tunitiesofpilastertreatmentmustbeheldtospring

fromanexcessivezealfortheaestheticsofconstruction,

thenature
ofwhichtheyunderstoodfarmoreexactly

and
logically than their modern critics, who,while

rightly insisting on the fundamental importanceof

structure
not only in architectural science, butin

architectural art, overlook the essentiallydifferent

part which it necessarily
plays in these twofields,

andwhoimaginethataknowledgeofstructuralfact

must modify, orcan
modify, our aesthetic

reaction

tojtructuralappearance.

/ Tothispositionthescientificcriticismwouldhave

a last reply. It will
answer

—

(for the complaint

has
often been made)

—

^that this apparent power

andvigourof the dome of

Michael Angelo

depends

on thespectator's
ignoranceofconstructivescience.

In

proportionaswe realise

the hiddenforces

which

such a domeexerts,

we must seethat the dome

is