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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. Page 1 of 5 →
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Our Architectural Chapter.
OIFK , AEGHITEGTURAL CHAPTEB .
The contest between sham and reality , between compo and stone , has again been raised , on the occasion of Mr . E . M . Barry having covered much of his large Opera House in CoVent Garden with tlie ^ fictitious material . He is charged with all the enormities consequent on the . adoption of shams ; for be it known to our non-professional Brethren , the great sticklers for aesthetic cement attempt to establish the " principle that . no imitation of
a '' natural material shall be used in architecture ; nothing which is not solidly and bodily what its surface represents ; and any opposition to this law of theirs is by them entitled a sham ^ in inculcation of which severe code they have written many articles , many chapters , and it may be said some books . According to law , iron columns must not be coloured bronze ,
for that is representing that the columns are of bronze when they are of iron , which is to practise a deception on the spectator , who is led to believe that the columns are of richbronze when they are of cheap cast iron . So , too , it is not allowed to paint wood to look like stone or marble , the wood being a cheaper material , and the gazer thereon being deceived that lie is looking on a marble door , when it is one of deal .
This Mosaic law rests chiefly on mystic Platonic grounds , and does not acknowledge the dictates of pleasure and satisfaction afforded by a work of art as admissible without reference to the corporeal elements by which the form is developed . To carry out such a principle to its full ontojogical extent we must allow no artistic illusion to affect the mind ; thus it will be seen that a statue of marble does not constitute a living being , nor is it
formed of flesh , and that a picture is a deceptive attempt of the artist to present a human or other figure as a solid , when the drawing is nothing more than a flat paste of colour on canvass . Either it must be allowed that aesthetic enjoyment is to be derived from the intellectual attributes displayed , or we must restrict ourselves to such results as can be obtained from the collocation of natural materials . This would be at once to
restrict ourselves to architectural effects as the sole representatives of art , and when we had got so far in our restriction , it becomes questionable whether we are justified in using ashlar or any form of dressed masonry , when it is not natural to cut or polish rocks , except » by the action of icebergs and glaciers , This seems to be the . legitimate consequence of workingout this favourite law of reality , as against representation , imitation , and sham .
io reject tins law , we shall be told , is to admit Madame Tussaud's waxwork , or any form of representation and illusion which satisfies the senses . And why not ? AVli . y arc we not to he pleased , when we are pleased ? And must we at the first prompting of enthusiasm and enjoyment restrain our feelings , and set ourselves to examine the mechanical structure of the expedients by which the influence is produced , to count the cost , and determine the degree of permanence or durability of the apparatus displayed
before us ? To such an appeal , from the happy spectator urged to be miserable there is a ready reply , for he will be referred to those canons of art which teach that buildings should be of the most durable and costly material . ; and we should bear something about the Pentcliean marble of the Parthenon , and the chaste glories of pure art , and the consequences of departing therefrom ; and yet how true is it that some of the highest enjoyments are derived from fleeting influences , and that some of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter.
OIFK , AEGHITEGTURAL CHAPTEB .
The contest between sham and reality , between compo and stone , has again been raised , on the occasion of Mr . E . M . Barry having covered much of his large Opera House in CoVent Garden with tlie ^ fictitious material . He is charged with all the enormities consequent on the . adoption of shams ; for be it known to our non-professional Brethren , the great sticklers for aesthetic cement attempt to establish the " principle that . no imitation of
a '' natural material shall be used in architecture ; nothing which is not solidly and bodily what its surface represents ; and any opposition to this law of theirs is by them entitled a sham ^ in inculcation of which severe code they have written many articles , many chapters , and it may be said some books . According to law , iron columns must not be coloured bronze ,
for that is representing that the columns are of bronze when they are of iron , which is to practise a deception on the spectator , who is led to believe that the columns are of richbronze when they are of cheap cast iron . So , too , it is not allowed to paint wood to look like stone or marble , the wood being a cheaper material , and the gazer thereon being deceived that lie is looking on a marble door , when it is one of deal .
This Mosaic law rests chiefly on mystic Platonic grounds , and does not acknowledge the dictates of pleasure and satisfaction afforded by a work of art as admissible without reference to the corporeal elements by which the form is developed . To carry out such a principle to its full ontojogical extent we must allow no artistic illusion to affect the mind ; thus it will be seen that a statue of marble does not constitute a living being , nor is it
formed of flesh , and that a picture is a deceptive attempt of the artist to present a human or other figure as a solid , when the drawing is nothing more than a flat paste of colour on canvass . Either it must be allowed that aesthetic enjoyment is to be derived from the intellectual attributes displayed , or we must restrict ourselves to such results as can be obtained from the collocation of natural materials . This would be at once to
restrict ourselves to architectural effects as the sole representatives of art , and when we had got so far in our restriction , it becomes questionable whether we are justified in using ashlar or any form of dressed masonry , when it is not natural to cut or polish rocks , except » by the action of icebergs and glaciers , This seems to be the . legitimate consequence of workingout this favourite law of reality , as against representation , imitation , and sham .
io reject tins law , we shall be told , is to admit Madame Tussaud's waxwork , or any form of representation and illusion which satisfies the senses . And why not ? AVli . y arc we not to he pleased , when we are pleased ? And must we at the first prompting of enthusiasm and enjoyment restrain our feelings , and set ourselves to examine the mechanical structure of the expedients by which the influence is produced , to count the cost , and determine the degree of permanence or durability of the apparatus displayed
before us ? To such an appeal , from the happy spectator urged to be miserable there is a ready reply , for he will be referred to those canons of art which teach that buildings should be of the most durable and costly material . ; and we should bear something about the Pentcliean marble of the Parthenon , and the chaste glories of pure art , and the consequences of departing therefrom ; and yet how true is it that some of the highest enjoyments are derived from fleeting influences , and that some of the