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

THE BIOLOGICAL

FALLACY

173

place. Here,as atno

othertime, is

struck acom-

plete equipoise between majesty

and refinement.

The architecture of

Bramante and Raphael

and

Peruzzi is as free from the childish

and uncertain

prettiness of the work which

precedes it as from

the

'

grossness and

carelessness' ofthat which fol-

lowed. It sharesthe faultless easeof

the painting

of its period. Raphael's ruined

villa

'

Madama,'

Peruzzi'spalaceoftheMassimi,theFarnesina,

which

these two names dispute, a score

ofother Roman

houses, with that

at

Florence

of the Pandolfini,

allhave this greatness, this distinction

of design.

Behindthemisdiscernedtheimage

ofthegrandest :

Bramante's vision of St. Peter's, ill-starred, un-

realised.

Itis ashort period—asinglegeneration

well-nighi

covers it.

But

it is theclimaxof the Renaissance

and its prime. It synchronises with the climax

of

paintingand civilisation. It is the architecture

of

LeoX.andofLeonardo: thearchitectureofatime

thatcould seeitsprototypeintheassembledgenius

of the

'

School of Athens.' This is the second

period of Renaissance architecture: its supreme

\

efflorescence.

^

Andnowbegins

thedecline

; the

perfectequipoise

could not be sustained. The inevitable decaysets

in.

Ittakestwo

complementaryshapes; exaggera-

tion and vacuity. The noble

disposition

of archi-