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

176 THEARCHITECTURE OF HUMANISM

truethatoflateyearsaslightlymoreworthyapprecia-

tionofthebaroquestyle—

^it

wouldbetruertocall

it

amitigationofabusethananappreciation

—^has

crept

fromGerman into English criticism. Butthe new,

lessvivid,coloursgrestillwovenontheoldpattern.

Immaturity,prime,and

decay

followone

anotherin

predestinedsequence. Architectureisstillpresented

tousasanorganismwithalifeofitsown,subject

to

theclockworkofinevitablefate. After

Brunelleschi

the

herald,and Bramantethe achiever, must come

Berniniandthefall.

Let us

retracethe

biologic myth.

Theperiodof

Brunelleschi is tentative and immature—unskilled,

butcharming. Thisis true,inasense, but

already

it

isnotexactlytrue.

Itasksustoregard Brunel-

leschi's architecture as a less adept solution of

Bramante'sproblem. Itpresentshimasstruggling

withimperfectinstrumentsafteranideal

whichlater

was

fulfilled.

Weareboundtoseehisarchitecture

inthislightifourthoughtsareonthesequence. In

relationtothesequence,thedescriptionmay

be

just.

Butthispreciselywasthefallacy

ofevolution. The

valuesof artdonot liein the sequencebutinthe

individual terms. To Brunelleschi

there was no

Bramante

;

his architecture

was not Bramante's

unachieved, buthis own fulfilled. His purpose led

tothepurposeofBramante
: theywerenotonthat

account the same.
There is in the architecture of