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

12 THE ARCHITECTURE

OF

HUMANISM

architectureof

the Renaissance,

weshallsee

reason;

toconclude,maybe

studiedas aresult

ofpractical

needs shaped by

structural principle

;

it must be

studied as an aesthetic impulsion,

controlled by

aesthetic laws, and onlyby anaesthetic

criticism to

be finallyjustifiedor

condemned. Itmust,infact,

bestudiedasanart.

Here, however, is the truecore of the difficulty.

The science, and the history, of architecture are

studiesof whichthemethod is in nodispute. But

=

forthe art ofarchitecture, in this strict sense, no

agreement

exists. The reason has

few

problems so

difficult asthosewhich ithas many timesresolved.

Too many definitionsof architectural

beauty have

proved

their case, enjoyed their vogue, provoked

their opposition, and left upon the

vocabulary

of

arttheirlegacyofprejudice,

ridicule,andconfusion.

The

a:ttempttoreason honestly or

to

see

clearly

in

architecturehasnotbeen

veryfrequentorconspicu-

ous

;

but, even

whereit exists, the termsit must

employare

hardenedwith misuse,

andthevisionit

invokes

isdistorted by

allthepreconceptions

which

beset a jaded
argument. Not only

do we inherit

thewreckage
ofpast
controversies,butthose
contro-

versies
themselves
arecloudedwith
thedustofmore

heroic combats,
and
loud with the
battle-cries of

poetryand
morals,
philosophy,
politics,and
science.

For
it is unluckily
the fact
that thought
aboutthe