The architects of our churches subordinated detail to arrive at a more
effective whole. That is why our churches are so beautiful when seen
from a distance. They sacrificed everything to the essential, the "plan."
The plan? Like all synthetic conceptions, this is difficult to define.
It is the space that an object displaces in the atmosphere, its volume.
When an artist is able to determine exactly the space an object occupies
in the atmosphere, be he painter, sculptor, or architect, he possesses
the real science of plans.
What is detail in a plan? Nothing. The towers of the church at Bruges
are superb in their bareness, while our modern houses, overladen with
detail, are hideous to look upon. Of the two towers of the cathedral at
Chartres, the one is bare, just a huge wall; the other is covered with
ornamentation, and the first is possibly the more beautiful because of
the potency of its plan. What does this force of simplicity express to
us? It is the soul of a nation. A people expresses its nature through
the medium of its architecture. Stones are faithful when we do not
retouch them. They are the signatures of a nation.
[Illustration: HEADLESS FIGURE.]
Through the science of plans the great oppositions or contrasts of light
and shadow are obtained. They give life and color to the structure.
According to the position of the sun, the appearance of a building
varies. One part is in the shade, the other in the light, and between
these two is the gradation of shadings.
The master architects did not set their edifices apart from the
universe; they gave them the benefit of all the phenomena of
nature--dawn and dusk, twilight, cloud effects, haze, and fog. Every
moment of the day adds to or detracts from their effect.
Sometimes I stand before a cathedral, and it does not seem at all
beautiful. I feel I should like to alter it. Then I revisit it at
another hour and see it in a different lighting. The light strikes it
aslant, the shadows are deeper; the cathedral is absolutely beautiful,
and I feel abashed at my former impatience and critical mistrust.