DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26439#0015
INTRODUCTION.
It lias been the great misfortune of Architecture, from the last century up to the present time, to be con-
sidered as a study per se; as an art perfect in itself, and requiring no adventitious aid from the sister arts of
Sculpture, Painting, etc.; but if we search antiquity through, we shall find no example of such a disconnection of
the one from the others; and those buildings are the most interesting, the most beautiful and satisfactory, which
have sought the aid and guided the aim of all those varied and ingenious methods of ornament, which the
art of mankind has discovered and brought to perfection. It is true that constructive science is of primary
importance to the architect; yet it can do no more than form the skeleton which it is his duty to render, not
useful merely, but agreeable to the eye; and in order to effect this, he must of necessity call in the aid of the
artist in stone, in colour, in metal, wood and mosaic work, and possess the knowledge and good taste requisite to
apply them effectively to his subject: the useful should never be separated from the beautiful; the last is the
complement of the first, of which every work of the Divine Creator, the great Architect and Artist of the
Universe, affords striking and inimitable proof.
To one deeply penetrated with this feeling, the study of Architecture is no longer confined to the few years
spent in an office to obtain a knowledge of the different styles, and the usual methods of professional business,
but demands long-continued attention to all the arts of Design, with a view to their general application to
Architecture. And here let us say a word on the subject of servile imitation, which is an evil almost necessarily
attendant on the revival of any style or manipulative art. Novelty and beauty excite admiration, and naturally
produce imitation; but this will be only for a time; for we should not be human beings if finally we did not
endeavour to strike out a new path for ourselves; and it is then that we shall bring to bear our knowledge, not
for the purposes of imitation, but of progress. With all just deference to the studies of our predecessors, with all
our admiration for the styles of the past, our present object should be to consolidate and arrange the information
we now have; and from the lessons thus gained, the examples thus given, strike out a new path for the powers of
the Architect, and bring back the art to its normal state, which is one of gradual but sure progress, founded on
scientific and artistic knowledge: we should perceive that merit exists more or less in all styles, and is irrespec-
tive of fashion, which is mutable and often unjust; that the principles of our art are fixed and certain; that
however much long-received rules may be altered as circumstances may require, they are not to be despised or
disregarded without careful consideration; that true construction is the vital principle of real progress; and that,
besides the excellent and numerous examples of ornament we already possess, Nature still has varied and inex-
haustible resources in store for our study; and above all, that for the appliance of these means at our disposal,
an earnest study, a just appreciation, a practical knowledge of all Art, is indispensably necessary, and can only
be obtained by an industrious use of the hand and of the eye, as well as of the mind.
It lias been the great misfortune of Architecture, from the last century up to the present time, to be con-
sidered as a study per se; as an art perfect in itself, and requiring no adventitious aid from the sister arts of
Sculpture, Painting, etc.; but if we search antiquity through, we shall find no example of such a disconnection of
the one from the others; and those buildings are the most interesting, the most beautiful and satisfactory, which
have sought the aid and guided the aim of all those varied and ingenious methods of ornament, which the
art of mankind has discovered and brought to perfection. It is true that constructive science is of primary
importance to the architect; yet it can do no more than form the skeleton which it is his duty to render, not
useful merely, but agreeable to the eye; and in order to effect this, he must of necessity call in the aid of the
artist in stone, in colour, in metal, wood and mosaic work, and possess the knowledge and good taste requisite to
apply them effectively to his subject: the useful should never be separated from the beautiful; the last is the
complement of the first, of which every work of the Divine Creator, the great Architect and Artist of the
Universe, affords striking and inimitable proof.
To one deeply penetrated with this feeling, the study of Architecture is no longer confined to the few years
spent in an office to obtain a knowledge of the different styles, and the usual methods of professional business,
but demands long-continued attention to all the arts of Design, with a view to their general application to
Architecture. And here let us say a word on the subject of servile imitation, which is an evil almost necessarily
attendant on the revival of any style or manipulative art. Novelty and beauty excite admiration, and naturally
produce imitation; but this will be only for a time; for we should not be human beings if finally we did not
endeavour to strike out a new path for ourselves; and it is then that we shall bring to bear our knowledge, not
for the purposes of imitation, but of progress. With all just deference to the studies of our predecessors, with all
our admiration for the styles of the past, our present object should be to consolidate and arrange the information
we now have; and from the lessons thus gained, the examples thus given, strike out a new path for the powers of
the Architect, and bring back the art to its normal state, which is one of gradual but sure progress, founded on
scientific and artistic knowledge: we should perceive that merit exists more or less in all styles, and is irrespec-
tive of fashion, which is mutable and often unjust; that the principles of our art are fixed and certain; that
however much long-received rules may be altered as circumstances may require, they are not to be despised or
disregarded without careful consideration; that true construction is the vital principle of real progress; and that,
besides the excellent and numerous examples of ornament we already possess, Nature still has varied and inex-
haustible resources in store for our study; and above all, that for the appliance of these means at our disposal,
an earnest study, a just appreciation, a practical knowledge of all Art, is indispensably necessary, and can only
be obtained by an industrious use of the hand and of the eye, as well as of the mind.