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

HUMANIST

VALUES

225

Bramahte

—

^aims at authority,

dignity, and

peaceJ

It

doesthisby conveying

atevery

pointa senseof

equipoise. The forms are so

adjusted amid

the

surrounding contours as
to cancel all
suggested

movement: tJieyare placed,as
itwere,each atthe

centreofgravitywithinthe
space,andour
conscious-

ness is thus sustained at apoint of
rest. Butthe

baroquearchitectsrejectedthis

arrangement. They

employedspaceadjustmentswhich,takeninisolation,

would be inharmonious. In their

church fagades,

as Wolfiflin has pointed out, theyquitedeliberately

congested their forms. The lower

windows are

jammedbetween the pilastersoneither side

;

they

areplacedabovethecentreofgravity

; theygivethe

sense of lateral pressure

and

upward movement.

This, taken alone, would leave us

perpetually in

suspense.

Butin theupperpart of the design our

expectancy is satisfied; the upward movement is

allowed

todisperse

itselfin greaterareas

of lateral

space, and makes its escape in a final flourish of

decorative sculpture; or

it is laid to rest

by

an

exaggeratedemphasisuponthedownwardmovement

ofthecrowningpedimentand

onthehorizontalsofthe

cornice. Here,therefore,amovement,which inthe

midstofaBramantesque

designwouldbedestructive

andrepugnant, is turned toaccountand madethe

basisofamore

dramatic,butnotlesssatisfyingtreat-

ment,

the

motiveofwhichisnotpeace,butenergy.

P