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

98

THEARCHITECTU5£-ei\HUMANISM

hesitation, constructionalfacttoaestheticeffect.

It

hadnot

achieved,itseemednotevento

have

desired,

that

these two elements should be made tocorre-

spond. Whereaconstructionalformsupplied

them

withanagreeable

effect,itsarchitectshadnotscrupled

to

employit,evenwhereitnolongerfulfilled

acon-

structive purpose. On the otherhand,

with equal

disregard forthis kind of truth,

those elements

of

construction

which reallyand effectively

supported

the

fabric,theywereconstantlyatpains

toconceal,

andeven,inconcealing,tocontradict.

(

Constructive

science, which
so long had been the
mistress of

architecture,theytreatedasherslave
;

andnotcon-

tent with making

mechanical expedients do

their

work

whilegivingthemnooutward

recognition,they

appropriatedtheforms
ofascientificconstruction
to

purelydecorativeuses,anddisplayedthe
corniceand

pilasterdivorced fromall
practicalsignificance,like

a trophyofvictory
upontheirwalls. And,inpro-

portion
as the Renaissance
matured itsforms and

came tofullerself-consciousness
in itsmethods,this

attitude
towards construction,
which had already

beenimplicit in the

architecture of ancient Rome,

with its 'irrational'

combination

of the arch and

lintel,

becameevermorefrank,

andonemightalmost

say, evermoreinsolent.

Chains

and buttresses

in

concealment

did thework

whichsome imposing,but

unsound, dome

affected to contribute

;

fagades