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

146

THEARCHITECTURE OF

HUMANISM

mediaevalmanner,oramodel

settlementinthedemo-

craticmanner,hispaganpleasureand his pietyare

equallytoseek.

Here, indeed, isthefallacyofthe

writers ofthisschool: an idealised

medisevalism

is

contrastedwithasharplyrealisticpictureofRenais-

sance architecture in modern life: the historical

Renaissance, the historical Gothic, they are at no

pains to reconstruct. Conducted without imparti-

ality, argumentssuch asthesearebutthe romance

of
criticism
;

they can intensify and decorate our

prejudices,butcannotrenderthemconvincing. Even

so,anddidtheyprovetheircase,thesuperiorworth

of
asocietymightjustifythechoice,butwouldnot

provethemeritofthestyleofarchitecturewhichthat

societyimposed. The

aestheticvalueofstylewould

stillremain
tobediscussed. Oristhat,too,upona

dueanalysis, within the province ofanethical
per-

ception? Thatisthequestionwhichstillremains.

Ill

Thelastphaseofethicalcriticismhas

at

leastthis

merit, thatitstrikes atarchitecture,
notitssetting.

Ittakesthekernel
fromitsshellbeforepronouncing

upontaste.

There

arethose who claima

directperception in

architecturalforms
ofmoralflavours. ^Theysay,for

example, of
thebaroque (for
although such hostile

judgmentsare passed upon
the whole Renaissance,