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

RENAISSANCE

ARCHITECTURE 31

also the lightest. Their
most remarkable achieve-

ment

was

asuddenpowerofquietdelicacyandgrace.

Conversely, when the

baroque architects of Rome

desired a monumental and Cyclopean effect, they

obtained it without the Florentines' advantages.

Again, the hardpietra serena ofTuscany maylend

itselftofinecarving

;

butthepassionoftheFloren-

tinesforexquisite detail

is

no lessmarked in their

painting, where no such factors operated, than in

their architecture. Clearly, therefore, it sprang in

bothcases from anindependent and native prefer-

enceoftaste. And,conversely,oncemore,therough

travertine of Rome did not yield

up

its

'

natural

'

effect,itsbreadthofscaleand roundnessoffeelings

until

the baroque imagination, trained in painting

toseekforsofttransitionsandbroad

shadow,began

torequirethosequalitiesinarchitecture. Tillthen,

travertine had

been used, againstitsnature, in the

Florentine

traditionofsharpdetail. IntheRenais-

sancetheimagination

camefirst;andwhereitexisted

it never

Jail

gd

to find materials for

its expression,

Nodoubtonematerial

wasbetterthananother,and

anarchitectaccustomed,

asweretheItalians, tohis

tools, would

take the besthe could; but

the men

of the

Renaissance were

notoriously, and perhaps

viciously,

indifferent to the

matter. If they con-

ceived a

design which

calledforamaterial

difficult

toobtain, they

made noscruple

aboutimitatingit.