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

PREFACE ix

toappreciatethetruerelationoftastetoideas,and

theinfluencewhicheachhasexertedontheother,that

ourpresentconfusion
hasresulted.

Ihaveattempted,consequently,intheverynarrow

fieldwithwhichthis

book

isconcerned,

totracethe

naturalhistoryofouropinions, todiscoverhowfar

upon

theirown

premisses theyare

trueorfalse,and

toexplain why,when false,theyhaveyet remained

plausible,powerful,and,tomanyminds,convincing.

Thisistotravel

farfromtheoriginalquestion. Yet

Ibelievetheinquirytobeessential,andIhave

sought

,

to

keepit withinthe rigorouslimitofasingleargu-

ment. Onthesepointsthereaderwilldecide.

Sofarasthisstudyisconcernedwith theculture

ofthe Italian Renaissance,I

amindebted, asevery

student must always be indebted,

primarily

to

Burckhardt.

I have profited also by Wolfiflin's

Renaissance und Barok. To the

friendship

of

Mr. Bemhard

Berenson I owe a stimulus and en-

couragement which those who

share it will alone

appreciate.

Mr. Francis Jekyll of the British

Museumhaskindlycorrectedmy

proofs.

5 Via

delleTerme,

Florence,February14,1914.