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

78 THE

ARCHITECTURE

OF HUMANISM

On the one side was Nature:

the curves of the

waves,thelineof

theunfoldingleaf,the

patternof

the

crystal. Allthese

mightbestudied,and

insome

way

architecturally employed

—

^no

matter how—so long

asthe

knowledgeandtheloveof

themwereevident.

Ontheother

stoodtheprinciplesofPalladio,andall

the pedantryof rule

and measure, madebarrenby

the conscious intellect. The

choice between

them

was a moral choice

between reverence and vanity.

Thiswasthe

refrainof TheStones

of

Veniceand all

thecriticism

'

accordingto

Nature.'

The

cultofNaturehasa venerablehistory; but

itisinteresting

tonoticethechangeithashereunder-

gone. ForNature,asthe romanticcriticsconceive

it,issomethingvery

differentfromtheNaturewhich

theirStoic

predecessorssetupasanideal, and

very

differentalsofromNatureasitactuallyis. Forthe

elementin

Naturewhich mostimpressed theStoics

waslaw,andits

throne

wasthe

humanreason.

/To

'

follow

reason

'

and

*

tolive according toNature

'

for

Marcus Aurelius were convertible terms. The

human

intellect,

with its inherent, its

'

natural

'

leaningstowardsorder,balance,andproportion,was

a

partofNature,anditwas

themost

admirableand

importantpart. ButNature,intheethicallanguage

ofhermodern aestheticdevotees, standsmostoften

in definite contradistinction to

the human

reason

.\

They

were

willing

torecogniseauthority

'

inthe

round