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

HUMANIST VALUES

219

example,whois

takingpartinanexcitinggame,

will

feelexhilarationandmayenjoy

it; buttheovertones

ofgaiety,thefullintellectualandemotionalinterest

of

thestate,aredrownedin thephysical

experience.

Themindisnotfreetoattendtothem. Itis pre-

ciselybecausetheconsciousphysicalelement
inarchi-

tecturalpleasure is soslight,

ourimitative self-ad-

justmenttoarchitecturalformsosubtle,thatweare

enabled to attend wholly to the intellectual

and

emotional

valuewhichbelongs

tothephysicalstate.

If

welookatsomespiritedeighteenth-centurydesign,

alllife and

flicker

and

fullofvigorousand

dancing

curves,the physicalecho ofmovement which they

awaken

is enoughto recall the appropriate mental

andemotionalpenumbra;

itisnotsufficienttoover-

whelm

it. Noonehassuggestedthattheexperiences

ofartare

asviolentorexcitingastheexperiencesof

physical activity;

but it is claimed for themthat

theyare

subtler,more profound,,

more

lasting,and,

asitwere,

possessedofgreaterresonance. Andthis

difference

thetheoryweareconsidering

assistsusto

understand.

Any

explanationof

the workings ofthe

aesthetic

instinct, however

accurate, must

inevitablyhave a

modernring. It

mustseemincongruouswhen

applied

tothe

artistsofthepast,for

theneedandthelanguage

ofsuchexplanations

areessentially

ofourownday.

Itwouldriot

thwefore

—

^to

passtothenext

objection