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

THE BIOLOGICAL FALLACY i8i

tion

of repose, which there had been satisfied at

everypoint,washeredeferred,suspendedtoaclimax.

Architecturewasconsidered,forthefirsttime,wholly

psydiabgicaHy. Sodaring arevolution must

needs

be

complexinitsissue. The changeof principleis

socomplete,

itslogicsoperfect,that,ifwefailtoshift

theangleofourvision,thenvirtueswhichthebaroque

architectspassionatelystudied,mustappearasvices

;

theverystrictnesswith

whichtheyadheredtotheir

aesthetic

mustseemanobtusenegligenceoftaste. A

dangerous

aesthetic, possibly: thatisapointwhich

neednot herebe

argued;

—

^buta decadentarchitec-

ture

—

^an

architecturethatlacked spontaneousforce,

energyofconception,

fertilityofinvention, orbril-

lianceofachievement—thatthe

baroquestyleonno

fairestimatecan

becalled.

Theartofpainting—except

insofarasitwasmerely,

yet superbly,

decorative and in closer

subservience

toarchitecture

—did, on the contrary, showat this

momenta real

decline. Forthe geniusofMichael

Angelo,

whichinarchitecturehad

merelyindicateda

lineoffruitfuladvance,

hadinpaintingfulfilled,and

even passed beyond, the favourable

limit. Thus,

while the baroque

architects were exploring

in a

veritablefeverofinvention

thepossibilitiesoftheir

inheritance, their

contemporaries in

painting were

marking time, and losing

themselves in an

empty,

facilerepetitionof

pastphrases.

Thisistruedecad-