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

172 THE

ARCHITECTURE OF HUMANISM

isnot

merelythat

theleastworthyfactsarestudied

most, and that the stress falls

rather on what

is

historiallyilluminating than on what is beautiful.

Theprejudiceis moreprofound. Forevolution

was

schooled in

the study of biology;

and

historical

criticism, when it deals in values at all, tends

un-

consciously toimposeonarchitecture thevalues

of

biology.

Renaissancearchitectureisblamed,inthe

general, because it is sdf-guided and

'

arbitrary

'

;

yetitiscondemned,in

the

particular,

bytheunjust

dooms

of

'

necessary

'

law. Let us take a typical

presentationofthestyle,andseehowthisoccurs.

Thearchitectureofthe Renaissance, we are

told,

and rightly, falls

into three fairly distinct periods.

There

is the period of the Florentine Renaissance

—

^the period of the

quattrocento—tentative, experi-

mental,hesitating,

withacertainnaivequalitythat

makes for

charm but hardly for accomplishment

:

theperiod ofwhich Brunelleschi

istheoutstanding

figure. Ofthismanner

ofbuildingthePazziChapel

isthe

earliestpureejcample,andthe

'

Carceri

'Church

of

GuilianodaSangallo,

atPrato, oneofthelatest.

Thisisthe

periodofimmaturity.

The second period

is that of Bramante and of

Raphael. It

is much more sure

of itself; its

aim

is clearly

defined and

supremely achieved. The

tentative Brunelleschian
charmhasvanished, anda

moreassuredand

authoritative

mannerhastakenits