Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/146

136 foreigners, with copperplates and some letter-press, that shows knowledge of art. When once one stands in the presence of these works, one immediately perceives their great value; for they are calculated to fill the eye with their actual greatness and massiveness, and to satisfy the mind by the beautiful harmony of their dimensions, not only in abstract sketches, but with all the prominences and distances of perspective. Therefore I say of Palladio, he was a man really and intrinsically great, whose greatness was outwardly manifested. The chief difficulty with which this man, like all modern architects, had to struggle, was the suitable application of the orders of columns to buildings for domestic or public use; for there is always a contradiction in the combination of columns and walls. But with what success he has worked them up together! What an imposing effect the aspect of his edifices has! at the sight of them one almost forgets that he is attempting to reconcile us to a violation of the rules of his art. There is, indeed, something divine about his designs, which may be exactly compared to the creations of the great poet, who out of truth and falsehood elaborates something between both, and charms us with its borrowed existence.

The Olympic Theatre is a theatre of the ancients, which is realised on a small scale, and is indescribably beautiful. However, compared with our theatres, it reminds me of a genteel, rich, well-bred child, contrasted with a shrewd man of the world, who, though he is neither so rich, nor so genteel and well-bred, knows better how to employ his resources.

If we contemplate on the spot the noble buildings which Palladio has erected, and see how they are disfigured by the mean, filthy necessities of the people, how the plans of most of them exceeded the means of those who undertook them, and how little these precious monuments of one lofty mind are adapted to all