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

ARTAND

THOUGHT

257

Eeasures

'

reactions

'

and

multiplies

experiments

—

mtoo

remote

fromtheproblem

ofthestyles. Such

'

Iresearchesare,ofnecessity,
conducteduponsimpler

Iquestions;

for

the interests of science

require cer-

plainty, verification, and the
repetition of clearly

defined tests upon innumerable minds.

But the

studyofart,whichhastodealwiththe

complexand

subtletissue ofaesthetic

experience,is compelledto

startfromadifferentpoint. Ittakes

a

positionfor

granted, ifonly asa hypothesis

: that architecture

throughthemass,space,andcoherenceofitsforms,

and through the direction ofits lines and planes,

communicates tous thevital valuesofimaginative

repose,stability,movement,andpower. Itdoesnot

fall

within

the

province ofcriticism to investigate

minutelythemachineryofour

response

;

it cannot

assistusmuch,asyet,

injudgingthevaluesofarchi-

tecturalstyle,tosearchthevaso-motor

system,and

to tabulatevibrations. But,starting

fromits own

IJlxypothesis,criticismhasto

inquirewhatexactlyare

the combinations ofarchitectural

forms

—

^whatpre-

cisely

the

relationsofvoidtosolid,of darktolight,

ofapparent weight toapparent

support, ofcurved

lines

tostraight

—

^thatareemployed

insuchworksof

architecture ashave,in

fact, givenforlong

periods

indubitable pleasure

;

and

how, with the

variation

of

these

elements,ourpleasure

alsocanbefoundto

vary. Ithastostudy

bywhatuse

ofthoseelements

R