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

234

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

HUMANISM

impressionofitssize. In

anybuilding

threethings

may

be

distinguished: thebigness

whichit

actually

has,the bigness

which it appears

to have,and the

feelingofbignesswhichitgives.

Thetwolasthave

oftenbeen

confused, butitis the

feelingofbigness

whichalonehasaesthetic

value. Itisnodemeritin

a

buildingthatitshouldfail (asSt.

Peter'sissaidto

fail)to

'

lookitssize.'

Forbigthingsarenot,assuch,

more beautifulthansmall,andthe

smallestobject

—

ameregemfor

example—^ifitsatisfiesthethreecon-

ditionsjuststated,may

conveyafeelingofdignity,

mass,andlargeness. Ontheotherhand, a

building

whichlooksbig

mayfailtoconveyafeelingofbigness.

Noone,forinstance,

lookingatthenew Museumat

SouthKensington,couldfailtorealisethatitsdimen-

sionsare

vast

; it

looksitssize. Butthewholedoes

notpredominateoverthe parts,thepartsaremany

andthescaleissmall. Hence,whileweperceivethis*

buildingtobelarge,itconveysafeelingnotoflarge-

ness,butofsmallnessmultiplied.

Smallscale,nolessthanlarge,maybe

employedto

emphasiseeffectsof

mass,as, forexample,whenfine

mouldingsareused in combination with

large,

un-

brokensurfaces. Intranscribing

ourselvesintosuch

abuilding

weinstinctivelytakeitsdetailasourunit

ofmeasurement,andthisgives

usanincreased,sense

ofthegrandeurand

simplicityofthe

unbrokenmass.

Broadlyspeakingthequattrocentoarchitects

employed