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

INTRODUCTION

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ii

native,that

weshallfollowthistradition. Thearchi-

tectureof Francein theseventeenthandeighteenth

centuriesand,

inalesserdegree,thatoftheGeorgian

periodinEngland,mightfurnishbrilliantexamplesof

thesamemannerofbuilding.

TheItalianexperiment

enabled the architects of France, amid their more

favourable environment,

to create a succession of

styles, in some ways more splendid, and certainly

more exquisite

and complete. Yet,_if we wish to

watcharchitecturalenergywhereitis mostconcen-

trated,most

vigorous,

andmost

originalitistoItaly

that^_wemustturn. Andinastudywhichistodeal

ratherwith the principlesthan with thehistory of

Renaissancearchitecture,it will

be

convenientthus

torestrictitsscope.

From whatpointof viewshould thisarchitecture

bejudgedsoasbesttorevealitsunityanditsintent

?

Ageneralsurveyoftheperiodwillshowgroundsfor

decidingthat,whileamechanical

analysisorasocial

analysismaythrowlightonmanyaspectsofRenais-

sance architecture, it is only an aesthetic

analysis,

andanaestheticanalysisinthestrictest

sense,which

can renderitshistory

intelligible,orour enjoyment

of it complete. If the essence, and not

the acci-

dents merely,of

thisarchitectural traditionisto

be

recognised, and

some estimate of it obtained

that

does not wholly misconstrue

its idea, this

ground

of analysis

must be consistently maintained.

The