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

THE ROMANTIC

FALLACY

55

itsprecisecharacterbecomes
farlessimportantthan

itsgeneralso-called

'

style

'

;

justasin

ahandwriting

thepreciseformsareless

importantthanthemean-

ingstowhichtheyrefer,andexistonly

tocallup

the

latter. Romanticism conceives styles

as a

stereo-,

typed

language.

Nineteenthcenturycriticismisfull

of this prepossession: its concern is

with

styles

• 
  

Christian

'

and

'

un-Christian

'

;

one

'

style

'

is

suitable to museums and banks and cemeteries

;

anothertocollegesandchurches

; andthisnotfrom

anyarchitecturalrequirementsofthecase,butfrom

a notionoftheideasupposed

tobe

suggested

by a

squarebattlement,aDoricpillar,

ora

pointedarch.'-

And such criticism is far more occupied with the

importance ofhaving,ornothaving, these features

in

general,than

withtheimportanceofhavingthem

individually beautiful, or beautifullycombined. It

sets upa

falseconception

of

styleandattachesex-

aggeratedvaluetoit. Forit looksto theconven-

tional marks ofhistoricalstylesforthesakeof their

symbolic

value,insteadofrecognisingstyleingeneral

foritsownvalue.!

Andthereensuesafurthererror. Everyperiod

of

*

Noris

thisprepossession extinct. When, recently,

themost

eminentof

Englisharchitectsprojectedabasilicafor

theHampstead

GardenSuburb,

theBishopofLondonsweptthe

admirablescheme

aside,declaring

he

'

musthaveaspirepointtoGod.'

Wetrusthis

lordship

isfindingsomesolaceatGolder'sGreen

forthesignalinjury

done

him

by

SirChristopherWren.