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

ii6 THE

ARCHITECTURE

OF HUMANISM

ofcertain

curvesandcertain

relationsofpressure

to

resistanceby

anunconscious(or

usually

unconscious)

analogywithour

ownmovements,ourowngestures,

our own experiences

of weight. By virtue of

our

subconsciousmemoryofthese,we

deriveour

instinc-

tivereactions

ofpleasure,orthereverse,tosuchcurves

andsuch relations.

Butthemorecomplexforms

of

construction can address themselves only to the

intelligence,forto

theseourphysicalmemorysupplies

noanalogies,and

isawakenedbythem

to

no

response.

So,too,iftherebeanexaggerateddisparitybetween

the visible bulk of amaterial andits capacityfor

resistance, as

forinstancein thecaseofsteel,itis

perfectlyeasytomaketheintellectualcalculusofits

function in thebuilding, butit is quite impossible

totranslateitintoanytermsofourownphysicalex-

perience. Wehavenoknowledgeinourselvesofany

suchparadoxicalrelations. Oursestheticreactionsare

limitedbyourpowertorecreateinourselves,imagin-

atively,thephysicalconditionssuggestedbytheform

we see: totreuiscribe itsstrengthorweaknessinto

terms of our own life. The sweepof the lines

of

Michael Angelo'sdome,the grand sufficiencyofits

mass, arouse in us, for

this reason, a

spontaneous!

delight. The further considerations, so distressing

tothemechanicalcritic,remain,evenwhenwehave

understoodthem,onadifferentplane,unfelt.

~~^

Thistheoryofsestheticmustindeedbedealtwith