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

204

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

HUMANISM

The view that, because

certain forms

were used

in

the

past they must therefore

be used

without

alteration

in the future,is clearly

inconsistentwith

anydevelopmentin architecture.

Butthat

ideais,

in effect, what the academic

theory implies. And

our modern

cult of

'

purity' and

'

correctness

'

in

style reposes on the

same presumption.

'

By a

"

mistake,"' wrote Serlio,

'

I

mean to docontrary

to the precepts of

Vitruvius.' This happens

now

tosoundabsurdenough. Butitisnot

moreabsurd

than the taste which insists, in modem building,

upon

'

pure

'

Louis

xvi. or

'

pure' Queen Anne.

Certainly every deviation

from achieved beauty

mustjustifyitselftotheeye, andseemtheresult

of

deliberate thought, and not of mere ignorance or

vain

'

originality.' But deviations,

sanctioned by

thought and satisfying the eye, are the sign of a

livingart;and thecult of

'

correctness' is only to

besupported

on theassumptionthatarchitecture

is

now,
andforever,adeadcontrivancetowhichour

taste andhabitmust atallcostsconform. Conse-

quently,thejudgmentthat
Renaissance

architecture

is

'

not classical

enough

'

is as ill-grounded as the

judgmentthatitis

'

tooclassical.'

Thismeticulousobservance of

'

purestyles

*

is a

markofafailingenergy

inimagination

;

itisamark,

byacloser
acquaintancewiththePortade'BorsariatVerona,where

Bacciohasaclassicprecedent.