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Succession and Uniformity [Footnote 1:Mr.Addison,in the Spectator,concerning the pleasures of imagination,thinks it is because in the rotund at one glance you see half the building.This I do not imagine to be the real cause.]
Succession and uniformity of parts are what constitute the artificial infinite.1.
Succession;which is requisite that the parts may be continued so long and in such a direction,as by their frequent impulses on the sense to impress the imagination with an idea of their progress beyond their actual limits.
2
Uniformity;because if the figures of the parts should be changed,the imagination at every change finds a check;you are presented at every alteration with the termination of one idea,and the beginning of another;by which means it becomes impossible to continue that uninterrupted progression,which alone can stamp on bounded objects the character of infinity.1It is in this kind of artificial infinity,I believe,we ought to look for the cause why a rotund has such a noble effect.For in a rotund,whether it be a building or a plantation,you can nowhere fix a boundary;turn which way you will,the same object still seems to continue,and the imagination has no rest.
But the parts must be uniform,as well as circularly disposed,to give this figure its full force;because any difference,whether it be in the disposition,or in the figure,or even in the color of the parts,is highly prejudicial to the idea of infinity,which every change must check and interrupt,at every alteration commencing a new series.On the same principles of succession and uniformity,the grand appearance of the ancient heathen temples,which were generally oblong forms,with a range of uniform pillars on every side,will be easily accounted for.From the same cause also may be derived the grand effect of the aisles in many of our own old cathedrals.The form of a cross used in some churches seems to me not so eligible as the parallelogram of the ancients;at least,I imagine it is not so proper for the outside.
For,supposing the arms of the cross every way equal,if you stand in a direction parallel to any of the side walls,or colonnades,instead of a deception that makes the building more extended than it is,you are cut off from a considerable part (two-thirds)of its actual length;and to prevent all possibility of progression,the arms of the cross,taking a new direction,make a right angle with the beam,and thereby wholly turn the imagination from the repetition of the former idea.Or suppose the spectator placed where he may take a direct view of such a building,what will be the consequence?The necessary consequence will be,that a good part of the basis of each angle formed by the intersection of the arms of the cross,must be inevitably lost;the whole must of course assume a broken,unconnected figure;the lights must be unequal,here strong,and there weak;without that noble gradation which the perspective always effects on parts disposed uninterruptedly in a right line.Some or all of these objections will lie against every figure of a cross,in whatever view you take it.I exemplified them in the Greek cross,in which these faults appear the most strongly;but they appear in some degree in all sorts of crosses.
Indeed there is nothing more prejudicial to the grandeur of buildings,than to abound in angles;a fault obvious in many;and owing to an inordinate thirst for variety,which,whenever it prevails,is sure to leave very little true taste.
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Magnitude In Building To the sublime in building,greatness of dimension seems requisite;for on a few parts,and those small,the imagination cannot rise to any idea of infinity.
No greatness in the manner can effectually compensate for the want of proper dimensions.There is no danger of drawing men into extravagant designs by this rule;it carries its own caution along with it.Because too great a length in buildings destroys the purpose of greatness,which it was intended to promote;the perspective will lessen it in height as it gains in length;and will bring it at last to a point;turning the whole figure into a sort of triangle,the poorest in its effect of almost any figure that can be presented to the eye.I
have ever observed,that colonnades and avenues of trees of a moderate length,were,without comparison,far grander,than when they were suffered to run to immense distances.A true artist should put a generous deceit on the spectators,and effect the noblest designs by easy methods.Designs that are vast only by their dimensions,are always the sign of a common and low imagination.No work of art can be great,but as it deceives;to be otherwise is the prerogative of nature only.A good eye will fix the medium betwixt an excessive length or height,(for the same objection lies against both,)and a short or broken quantity;and perhaps it might be ascertained to a tolerable degree of exactness,if it was my purpose to descend far into the particulars of any art.
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Infinity In Pleasing Objects Infinity,though of another kind,causes much of our pleasure in agreeable,as well as of our delight in sublime,images.The spring is the pleasantest of the seasons;and the young of most animals,though far from being completely fashioned,afford a more agreeable sensation than the full-grown;because the imagination is entertained with the promise of something more,and does not acquiesce in the present object of the sense.In unfinished sketches of drawing,I have often seen something which pleased me beyond the best finishing;and this I believe proceeds from the cause I have just now assigned.
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