THE BIOLOGICAL FALLACY i8i
tion
of repose, which there had been satisfied at
everypoint,washeredeferred,suspendedtoaclimax.
Architecturewasconsidered,forthefirsttime,wholly
psydiabgicaHy. Sodaring arevolution must
needs
be
complexinitsissue. The changeof principleis
socomplete,
itslogicsoperfect,that,ifwefailtoshift
theangleofourvision,thenvirtueswhichthebaroque
architectspassionatelystudied,mustappearasvices
;
theverystrictnesswith
whichtheyadheredtotheir
aesthetic
mustseemanobtusenegligenceoftaste. A
dangerous
aesthetic, possibly: thatisapointwhich
neednot herebe
argued;
—
^buta decadentarchitec-
ture
—
^an
architecturethatlacked spontaneousforce,
energyofconception,
fertilityofinvention, orbril-
lianceofachievement—thatthe
baroquestyleonno
fairestimatecan
becalled.
Theartofpainting—except
insofarasitwasmerely,
yet superbly,
decorative and in closer
subservience
toarchitecture
—did, on the contrary, showat this
momenta real
decline. Forthe geniusofMichael
Angelo,
whichinarchitecturehad
merelyindicateda
lineoffruitfuladvance,
hadinpaintingfulfilled,and
even passed beyond, the favourable
limit. Thus,
while the baroque
architects were exploring
in a
veritablefeverofinvention
thepossibilitiesoftheir
inheritance, their
contemporaries in
painting were
marking time, and losing
themselves in an
empty,
facilerepetitionof
pastphrases.
Thisistruedecad-