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

154

THE

ARCHITECTUREOF

HUMANISM

stoodintheirway,

preferred atleast,

andforemost,

to

indicatedesign. And,since,

intherichmaterial,

part only

of the charm resides in the imaginative

valueofitspreciousness

—^itsrarity,the distanceit

hascome,thelaboursandsacrificesit

hascost—

^anda

far

greaterpartinthe materialbeauty, forthesake

of which

those sacrifices are made, those

labours

undertaken, the baroque architects, seeing this,

soughttosecurethelastbybrilliantimitation,even

when,of

necessity,theyforewentthefirst. Nor

was

theimitation,likemanythataremodern,sordidand

commercial

—

a. meticulousforgery. It wasa brave

impressionism,fitto

satisfythe

eye. The

mind

was

deluded,ifatall,thenmerrily,andforamoment.

An impartial spectator whofound so

much con-

trived

—

^and so ingenuously—for his delightwould,

on taking thought, no more complain
ofall these

substitutions—

these

false perspectives and painted

shadows

—

^thangrowindignantbecause,intheGreek

cornice,

he isshown false

eggs

anddarts. Forthis

is nomere flippancy. Imitation runsthroughart

;

andPlatowasmorelogical

whorejectedart,onthis

account,altogether,thanarethosecriticswhodraw

aline atthe baroque. Whenwe

haveimitated in

oneway longenough, ourconventionisacceptedas

such. The egganddart moulding

isaconvention.

The

baroquehabitis

aconventionalso. Itisobjected

thatitisaconventionwhichactually

deceivesand

dis-