TREES IN ARCHITECTURE 191 



the living forms, there would not be the right 

 relation between the decoration and the struc- 

 ture to be decorated. Architectural sculpture 

 is subject to other laws than those to which 

 painting is subject. Painting applied to archi- 

 tecture is placed under greater restraint with 

 respect to literal imitation than is painting that, 

 not being admittedly the decoration of a wall, 

 can rightly be more naturalistic in treatment. 

 How much more so must this be with sculpture 

 which, in its nature, cannot cover the same 

 range of colour, and of size and tone in relation 

 to distance. 



So it is not close imitation of nature we must 

 look for, but only rhythmically beautiful adapt- 

 ation of natural forms, reminding us of nature, 

 but possessing also a beauty of its own such 

 as nature does not set herself to give. If 

 inevitably less beautiful in some ways than 

 nature, it is permitted to art to be in other 

 ways more beautiful. Man is not condemned to 

 be a mere imitator ; it is granted to him to be 

 a creator, and to know the wonderful joy of 

 creation. And both architecture and archi- 

 tectural sculpture are at their best, not when 

 they are aiming to get as close to nature 



