84 THE PROVINCES OF THE SEVERAL ARTS 



and colonnade, of cupola and fa9ade and pediment, of spire 

 and vault, the architect translates emotion, vague perhaps but 

 deep, mute but unmistakable. When we say that a building 

 is sublime or graceful, frivolous or stern, we mean that sub- 

 limity or grace, frivolity or sternness, is inherent in it. The 

 emotions connected with these qualities are inspired in us 

 when we contemplate it, and are presented to us by its form. 

 Whether the architect deliberately aimed at the sublime or 

 graceful whether the dignified serenity of the Athenian genius 

 sought to express itself in the Parthenon, and the mysticism 

 of mediaeval Christianity in the gloom of Chartres Cathedral 

 whether it was Renaissance paganism which gave its mun- 

 dane pomp and glory to S. Peter's, and the refined selfishness 

 of royalty its specious splendour to the palace of Versailles 

 need not be curiously questioned. The fact that we are im- 

 pelled to raise these points, that architecture more almost 

 than any art connects itself indissolubly with the life, the 

 character, the moral being of a nation and an epoch, proves 

 that we are justified in bringing it beneath our general defi- 

 nition of the arts. In a great measure because it subserves 

 utility, and is therefore dependent upon the necessities of life, 

 does architecture present to us through form the human spirit. 

 Comparing the palace built by Giulio Romano for the Dukes 

 of Mantua with the contemporary castle of a German prince, 

 we cannot fail at once to comprehend the difference of spiritual 

 conditions, as these displayed themselves in daily life, which 

 then separated Italy from the Teutonic nations. But this is 

 not all. Spiritual quality in the architect himself finds clear 

 expression in his work. Coldness combined with violence 

 marks Brunelleschi's churches; a certain suavity and well- 

 bred taste the work of Bramante ; while Michel Angelo 

 exhibits wayward energy in his Library of S. Lorenzo, and 

 Amadeo self-abandonment to fancy in his Lombard chapels. 

 I have chosen examples from one nation and one epoch in 

 order that the point I seek to make, the demonstration of a 

 spiritual quality in buildings, may be fairly stated. 





