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

240

THEARCHITECTURE OF

HUMANISM

—studyitimpartiallyforwhatitis,like

the man

of

science

;

itremains,

in

theend

asin thebeginning,

somethingalienand

inhuman,

often

destructiveofhis

hopes. But

athirdwayisopen. Hemayconstruct,

withinthe

worldasitis,apatternoftheworldashe

would have it.

Thisis the way of humanism, in

philosophy,

inlife,andinthearts.

The

architectureofhumanismroseinGreece

;

and

oftheGreeksit hasbeensaid thattheyfirstmade

man

'

at home in the world.' Their thought was

anthropocentric : so also was their architecture.

Protagoras,whofirstmadehumanitythecentreofa

metaphysic and

'

the measure of all things

*

;

the

poets who,

in the laboursof Heraclesand

Theseus

andthestrife ofthe godswith centaurs, celebrated

the conquest by human reason of a cornerin

the

darkened world; Socrates,

who

drewdownspecula-

tionfromtheflatteryofthestarstotheserviceof

the

conscience
;

the dramatists, who found

tragedy a

savageriteandleftitamirroroflife,notasitisbut

asourminddemands: thesewerethe
firsthumanists.

Amongthesemen,andtosatisfy

thissameproclivity,

wascreatedan architecture whose

severalelements

weredrawnindeed fromprimitive

necessities,

butso

orderedandsochosenthatitsconstructive

needand

coarseutilityweremade

tomatchthedelight

ofthe

bodyandmock

theimageofthemind.

Withinthe

worldofconcreteformsindifferent

toman,they

con-