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

THEETHICAL FALLACY

147

it

is the seventeenthcenturystylewhichmostoften

and

mostacutelyprovokesthem)thatitisslovenly,

ostentatious, and false. And nothing, they insist,

but a bluntness of perception in regard to these

qualities,nothing,consequently,butamoralinsensi-

bility,canenableustoacceptit,beingthis,inplace

ofanarchitecture whichshould be—asarchitecture

can be

—

^patiently finished and true. Baroque con-

ceptions bearwith them theirown proofthat they

spring

from

a

diseasedcharacter

;

andhischaracter

mustbeequallydiseasedwhocanatanysubsequent

time

takepleasure inthemorthinkthem beautiful.

They mayhave sprungfroma corrupt

society and

served ignoble uses. That fact would but confirm

ourjudgment

: itdoes notfurnishitsground. Its

ground is in the work itself

;

and

this is not

bad

because it is ugly

;

it is ugly because, being false,

ostentatious,

slovenlyandgross, itisobviouslyand

literallybad.

This contention is supported by admitted facts.

Thedetail ofthe

baroquestyleisrough, Itisnot

finished with the

loving care of the quattrocento,

oreven of

the somewhat clumsyGothic.

It often

makes noeffortto

represent anythinginparticular,

oreven to

commit itselfto

anydefinite form. It

makes shift with

tumbled draperieswhich have no

seriousrelaitiontothe

humanstructure

;

itdelights

invaguevolutes

thathavenoserious

relationtothe