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

THE ROMANTIC FALLACY

47

wasmadeinaspiritofamusedpedantryandconscious

eccentricity,or,atmost,of
archaeologicalpatronage

;

norcould
theamateurs of that time have credited

theideathatthetrefoilsandpinnacles
ofWalpole's

toy heralded

amovement which would beforelong

exterminatealikethepracticeandtheunderstanding

oftheirart. Theironyofthissituationhasan

exact

and tragic counterpiart in the favour accorded at

thatepochbythemorephilosophic

andenlightened

oftheFrench

aristocracy

tothosetheoriesof'natural

'

equality (themselvesanotherexpression of romanti-

cism)whichweredestinedtodrive

thesenoblepatrons,

their philosophy and their enlightenment, entirely

outofexistence.

SidebysidewiththissenseofGothicasanamusing

exotic—an attitude which was thoroughly in the

Renaissance spirit and characteristic, above all, of

theeighteenthcentury

—

^theregrew

upamoreserious

perception ofits imaginative value. When Goethe

visits Strasburg Cathedral it is nolonger,

forhim,

theworkof

'

ignorantand

monkishbarbarians,'but

theexpressionofasublimeideal:andGoethe'smind

foreshadows that

of the coming century.

At the

same time he has no quarrel with the existing

standards;acompletereactionagainsttheseisasyet

unimaginable.

But

a

changeofattitudeshowsitself

both with regard to Gothicand also tothe living

style. Thesenow

camemore

and

more

tobe

regarded