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

THE ROMANTIC

FALLACY

59

y^'Such

were the consequences of the prepossession

whichtranslates

materialformsintotermsof'literary'

ideas.

Ji

fet it niust_-not be said

that

literary

ideas

have no

'

legitimat

ej_^ce in architectural.experi-

_ence. Every

experience of art contains, or may

contain,

twoelements,the onedirect,

the otherin-

direct. The direct element

includes our sensuous

experience

and simpleperceptions of form:

the

im-

mediateapprehensionoftheworkofartin

itsvisible

or audible

material, with whatevervalues may, by

thelawsofournature,beinherentlyconnected

with

that. Secondly, and beyond

this, there are the

asspciations which the work awakens in

the mind

—our consciousreflections uponit, thesignificance

weattachtoit,thefanciesitcalls

up,

andwhich,in

consequence,itissometimessaidtoexpress. Thisis

theindirect,orassociative,element,

j

These

two

elements are present in nearly every

aestheticexperience

;

buttheymaybeverydifferently

mayjustifyusinsayingthat,atthehandsoiourromantically-minded

critics,theRenaissancesuffersfromneglect,andthatitsuffersfrom

misinterpretation. ForMr.Lethabyfurthercomplainsofitsbuildings

thattheyare

'

architects'architecture': architecture,thatistosay,

notconvertible,presumably,intotermsofpoetryorhistoricalromance,

butrequiringaknowledgeofarchitecturalprinciplesforits

appre-

ciation. Renaissancearchitecture,infact,

is

herereadoff

intermsof

Renaissancesociety,andthose

whoenjoyit

as

an

art

arestigmatised

as architects.' Whenacritic,

perhapsaslearnedandaseminentas

anynowwritingonthesubject

ofarchitectureinEngland,canoffer

usthesecensures,evenina

popularwork,asthoughtheywereaccepted

commonplaces,itisnot

easytohopethattheRomanticFallacyis

becomingextinct.—W.R.

Lethaby,Architecture,

1912,pp.

232-3.