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

THE ROMANTIC

FALLACY

43

aryeffortsof

theJesuitshadmadeknown

.^

Inthis

caseour
threenecessaryconditionswerefulfilled. For

oneofthephasesofRenaissance

art,

whichwillfall

in

due course to be examined, wasthetranslation

into architecturallanguageofourpleasurein rapid,

joyous,and

evenhumorousphysicalmovements.

In

France,thisphasewasembodiedintheartofLouisxv.

Itwascontemporarywiththeclimaxofthatinterest

in

the Chinese which, wehave said, was anearly

instance of the romantic spirit. Now, in its pre-

dilectionfor

gay

and

tortuous

forms, asalso in its

loveoffinish,theartofChina(astheFrenchunder-

stood it) was perfectly congruous with their own.

It requirednoorganisation which

contemporary art

wasnotable

to

supply

;

andthezealforitcameat

a time when architecture was so

vigorous that it

readilyassimilatedsuchelementsofthenewmaterial

as suited its

requirements, and produced, in the

Chinoiseries of the eighteenth

century, acharming

invention, which, while it gratified the

romantic

instinctofthe age,added,

atthe sametime, toits

appropriatedecorativeresources.

>^The successive

stages of the Gothic taste

exhibit

veryclearly the character

of romanticism, and the

pointatwhichitoverweighsthesenseof

form. Up

*

The

ChineseTradingCompanyofColbertwas

foundedin 1660

;

the

CompagniedesIndesin1664. From 1698 to 1703

theAmphitrite

cruisedinChinesewaters. Vide

J.

Gu6rin,Les

ChinoiseriesauXVIH^

Siicle.