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

258

THE ARCHITECTURE

OF HUMANISM

architecture obtains itseffects

of Mass or Line,of

Space

or of Coherence

;

and,

further, how these

effectsare

interfused: whatsacrifices,

for

example,

ofLinemaybeexacted when

Mass isthe supreme

ideal,orwhatminimumofCoherence

allthesevalues

may

require.

Thiswillbethetrue

aestheticofarchitecture,and

herewouldbefoundthelaws

—

^tentative,no

doubt,

but

stillappropriate—ofthethird

'

conditionofwell-

building

'

—

^its

'

delight.' To combine these lawsof

delight with the demandsof

'

firmness

'and

'

com-

modity

'

is afurtherproblem: in factthepractical

problem of

the architect. Totrace howthisunion

has beenachieved, andby whatconcessions, isthe

taskof the historian. But all these questions are

distinct.

And the crucial, the central, study of

architecturalcriticism isthe first.

Ill

Thearchitecture ofthe Renaissanceprovides, for

thatstudy,analmostperfectground. First,

it

should

tempt investigation, because—

^as the first chapter

showed

—

^thenon-sesthetic elements, whichin archi-

tecturearealwaysinterwoven

withthepurefunction

ofdesign, wereless prominentinRenaissancearchi-

tecture than in anyother style.

It wasan archi-

tecturecontrolled,beyond

allothers,bydisinterested

taste,andisthusthebestfield for

taste'sresearches.