18
THE
ARCHITECTURE OF
HUMANISM
workingsofanimaginationtoo
swiftand
restlessto
abidethefulfilmentofitsowncreations.
Inthisthe
Renaissance stands alone.
J
The
mediaeval Gothic
hadindeedbeenequallyrapid,
andequallyoblivious
ofitspast,sorapid andsooblivious
thatfewofits
principal buildings were completed in the style in
which they were begun.
Nevertheless it pursued
one undeviating course of constructive
evolution.
Beside this scientific zeal the achievement of the
Italian
buildersmight
appear,
at
first sight,
to
be
as confused in aim as it was fertile in invention.
Contrastit
withthecumulative
labour,theintensive
concentration,
by which the idea of Greek atchi-
tecture, ever reiterated, was sharpened to its per-
fection, and the Renaissance in Italy seems
hut
a
pageant of great suggestions.
Set it beside the
antiquestylesoftheEast,compareitwiththemonu-
mental immobilitywhich for
eighteencenturieswas
maintained in the architectural tradition of Egypt,
and it might pass for
an energy disquieted and^:
frivolous.
Yet,ateveryinstantinthebriefsequence
of
itsforms,itispowerfulandit
isconvinced
;
and
fromthecontrolofits
influenceEuropehasattempted
tofreeitselfinvain.
Weshall seek withoutsuccess,
amongconditions
externaltoart, for
causes adequate
toan effectso
varied,soviolent,
andso
far-reaching.
The revolu*
tions
whicharchitecture
underwentin
Italy,fromthe