BEAUTY, &C. IN ARCHITECTURK. 205 



ling one moderate-sized or comparatively small stone, the means 

 appear so very inadequate to the end of raising a large building 

 that we seldom or ever think of how many large buildings (such, for 

 instance, as our old cathedrals) were erected. We look at them 

 with a sort of religious feeling, as if they were indigenous to the 

 soil. Any thing large or massive is so connected with our ideas of 

 superior power that it is impossible to throw together a large quan- 

 tity of materials without a certain stateliness or grandeur of appear- 

 ance. So it is that many large buildings which, from their size, 

 look grand, are very popular, and are said to be sublime, although 

 in reality they are but indifferent designs. Witness St. Peter's at 

 Rome, of which Prince Puckler Muskau says, "The vast multitude 

 of pillars, vaultings, chapels, niches, altars, and monuments — all, 

 for the most part, overloaded with innumerable badly designed and 

 badly executed ornaments, consisting of arabesques, zig-zag flourish- 

 ings, symbols, and coats of arms, or of bas-reliefs, doves, angels, and 

 popes, together with saints and patriarchs of all dimensions — all 

 this constitutes such a cut up and confused ensemble that it is im- 

 possible it should impress the beholder with that feeling of unity 

 and grandeur as does the first view of the Pantheon in a manner 

 perfectly irresistible !" The lavish profusion of ornament and the 

 modern appearance the church derives from it, combined with its 

 prodigious size, frequently lead those who are astonished by it to 

 exclaim in a tone of enthusiasm that it is as sublime as it is elegant! 

 Yet if we ask ourselves what is meant by elegant sublimity or su- 

 blime elegance, we are tempted to regard such a compliment as 

 nothing else than a sarcastic epigram." Large buildings, although 

 they may be grand from their size, can only be made sublime by the 

 genius of the artist. 



Perhaps a degree of uniformity is as necessary in large buildings 

 as (after the original expressions) any other quality. By extraor- 

 dinary richness and intricacy of detail, a bewildering magnificence 

 may be raised : yet it will not satisfy the man of taste, and will 

 soon fatigue even the vulgar. But uniformity excites the imagina- 

 tion by producing almost the idea of infinity ; it does not tire the 

 sight, it assists the mind in comprehending the whole, and displays 

 the various beauties and remarkable phenomena of perspective to 

 the greatest advantage. 



It is a common thing with architects to pronounce a building 

 good or bad merely from the correctness or incorrectness of mould- 

 ings, ornaments, &c., without considering the more noble and im- 

 portant ends of design. It is this practice, together with certain 



