Section 3

Helmholtz says, "No doubt is now entertained that beauty is subject to laws and rules dependent on the nature of hu'man in- telligence. The difficulty consists in the fact that these laws and rules, on whose fulfilment beauty depends, are not consciously present in the mind of the artist who creates the work, or of the observer who contemplates it." Nevertheless they are discover- able, and can be formulated, after a' fashion. We have only to read aright the lessons everywhere portrayed in the vast picture- books of nature and of art.
The first truth therein published is the law of Unity — oneness ; for there is one Self, one Life, which, myriad in manifestation, is yet in essence ever one. Atom and universe, man and the world — each is a unit, an organic and coherent whole. The application of this law to art is so obvious as to be almost un- necessary of elucidati'on, for to say that a work of art must pos- sess unity, must seem to proceed from a single impulse and be the embodiment of one dominant idea, is to state a truism. In a work of architecture the coordination of its various parts with
UNITY AND POLARITY 31
one another is almost the measure of its success. We remember any masterpiece — the cathedral of Paris no less than the pyra- mids of Egypt — by the singleness of its appeal ; complex it may be, but it is a coordinated complexity; variety it may possess, but bu*t it is a variety in an all-embracing unity.
The second law, not contradicting but supplementing the first, is the law of Polarity, i. e., duality. All things have sex, are either masculine or feminine. This too is the reflection on a lower plane of one of those transcendental truths taught by the Ancient Wisdom, namely that the Logos, in his voluntarily circumscribing his infinite life in order that he may mani- fest, encloses himself within his limiting veil, maya, and that his life appears as spirit (male), and his maya as matter (female), the two being never disjoined during manifestation. The two terms of this polarity are endlessly repeated through- out nature: in sun and moon, day and night, fire and water, man and woman — and so on, A close inter-relation is always seen to subsist between corresponding members of such pairs of opposites: sun, day, fire, man express and embody the primal and active aspect of the manifesting deity; moon, night, water, woman, its secondary and passive aspect. Moreover, each implies or brings to mind the others of its class : man, like the sun, is lord of day; he is like fire, a devastating force; woman is subject to the lunar rhythm; like water, she is soft, sinuous, fecund.
The part which this polarity plays in the arts is important, and the constant and characteristic distinction between the two terms is a thing far beyond mere contrast.
In music they are the major and minor modes: the typical, or representative chords of the dominant seventh, and of the tonic (the two chords into which Schopenhauer says all music can be resolved) : a partial dissonance, and a consonance:
32 THE BEAUTIFUL NECESSITY
a chord of suspense, and a chord of satisfaction. In speech the two are vowel, and consonant sounds : the type of the first being a, a sound of suspense, made with the mouth open; and of the second m, a sound of satisfaction, made by closing the mouth; their combination forms the sacred syllable Om (Aum). In painting they are warm colors, and cold : the pole of the first be- ing in red, the color of fire, which excites ; and of the second in blue, the color of water, which calms ; in the Arts of design they are lines straight (like fire), and flowing (like water) ; masses light (like the day), and dark (like night). In architecture they are the column, or vertical member, which resists the force of gravity; and the lintel, or horizontal member, which suc- cumbs to it; they are vertical lines, which are aspiring, ef- fortful; and horizontal lines, which are restful to the eye and mind.
It is desirable to have an instant and keen realization of this sex quality, and to make this easier some sort of classification and analysis must be attempted. Those things which are allied to and partake of the nature of time are masculine, and those which are allied to and partake of the nature of space are fem- inine: as motion, and matter; mind, and body; etc. The English words "masculine" and "feminine" are too intimately associated with the idea of physical sex properly to designate the terms of this polarity. In Japanese philosophy and art (derived from the Chinese) the two are called In and Yo (In, feminine; Yo, masculine) ; and these little words, being free from the limi- tations of their English correlatives, will be found convenient, Yo to designate that which is simple, direct, primary, active, positive; and In, that which is complex, indirect, derivative, passive, negative. Things hard, straight, fixed, vertical, are Yo; things soft, curved, horizontal, fluctuating, are In — and so on.
UNITY AND POLARITY
MAPLE UAF
33
In passing it may be said that the super- iority of the line, mass, and color composition of Jap- anese prints and kak- emonos to that exhib- ited in the vastly 6 7 more pretentious
easel pictures of modern Occidental artists — a superiority now generally acknowledged by connoisseurs — is largely due to the conscious following, on the part of the Japanese, of this principle of sex-complementaries.
Nowhere are In and Yo more simply and adequately imaged than in the vegetable kingdom. The trunk of a tree is Yo, its foliage, In ; and in each stem and leaf the two are repeated. A calla, consisting of a single straight and rigid spadix embraced by a soft and tenderly curved spathe, affords an almost perfect expression of the characteristic differences between Yo and In and their reciprocal relation to each other. The two are not often combined in such simplicity and perfection in a single form. The straight, vertical reeds which so often grow in still, shallow water, find their complement in the curved lily-pads which lie horizontally on its surface. Trees such as pine and hemlock, which are ex-current — those in which the branches start successively (i. e., after the manner of time) from a straight and vertical central stem — are Yo; trees such as the elm and willow, which are deliquescent — those in which the trunk dis- solves as it were simultaneously (after the manner of space) into its branches — are In, All tree forms lie in or between these two extremes, and leaves are susceptible of a similar classifi- cation. It will be seen to be a classification according to time
34
THE BEAUTIFUL NECESSITY
THE LAW OF POLARITY
and space, for the characteristic of time is succession, and of space, simultaneousness: the first is expressed symbolically by elements arranged with relation to axial lines; the second, by elements arranged with relation to focal points (Illustrations
6,7).
The student should train himself to recognize In and Yo in
all their Protean presentments throughout nature — in the cloud upon the mountain, the wave against the cliflf, in the tracery of trees against the sky — that he may the more readily recognize them in his chosen art, whatever that art may be. If it happens to be painting, he will endeavor to discern this law of duality in the composition of every masterpiece, recognizing an instinctive obedience to it in that favorite device of the great Renaissance masters of making an architectural set- ting for their groups of figures, and he will delight to trace the law in all its rami- ® fications of contrast between
complementaries in line, color, and mass (Illustration 8).
With reference to architecture, it is true, generally speaking, that architectural forms have been developed through necessity, the function seeking and finding its -'appropriate form. For example, the buttress of a Gothic cathedral was developed by
CLEOPATRA MELTING THE PEARL. £>V TIEPOLO
UNITY AND POLARITY 35
the necessity of resisting the thrust of the interior vaulting without encroaching upon the nave ; the main lines of a buttress conform to the direction of the thrust, and the pinnacle with which it ter- \] \^ minates is a logical shape for the masonry neces-
yv sary to hold the top in position (Illustration 9).
Research along these lines is interesting and fruitful of result, but there remains a certain number of architectural forms whose origin can- not be explained in any such manner. The secret of their undying charm lies in the fact 9 that in them In and Yo stand symbolized and
contrasted. They no longer obey a law of util- ity, but an abstract law of beauty, for in becoming sexually expressive as it were, the construction itself is sometimes weakened or falsified. The familiar classic console or mo- dillion is an example: although in general contour it is well adapted to its function as a supporting bracket, embedded in, and projecting from a wall, yet the scroll-like ornament with which its sides are embellished gives it the appearance of not entering the wall at all, but of being stuck against it in some miraculous manner. This defect in functional expressiveness is more than compensated for by the perfection with which feminine and masculine characteristics are expressed and contrasted in the exquisite double spiral, opposed to the straight lines of the moulding which it subtends (Illustration 10). Again, by fluting the shaft of a column its area of cross-section is diminished but the appearance of strength is enhanced because its masculine character — as a supporting member resisting the force of gravity — is emphasized.
The importance of the so-called "orders" lies in the fact that they are architecture epitomized as it were. A building con-
36
THE BEAUTIFUL NECESSITY
COMNTHIAN MODILUON
?^r-rp^ CLASSIC
Vii,/ s
sists of a wall upholding a roof: support and weight. The type of the first is the column, which may be con- cieved of as a condensed section of wall; and of the second, the lintel, which may be conceived of as a con- densed section of roof. The column, being vertical, is Yo; the lintel, being horizontal, is In. To mark an entab- lature with horizontal lines in the form of mouldings, and the columns with vertical lines in the form of flutes, as is done in all the "classic orders," is a gain in functional and sex expressiveness, and con- sequently in art (Illustration ii).
The column is again divided into the shaft, which is Yo; and the capital, which is In. The capital is itself twofold, consist- ing of a curved member and an angular member. These two appear in their utmost simplicity in the echinus (In) and the abacus (Yo) of a Greek Doric cap. The former was adorned with painted leaf forms, characteristically feminine, and the latter with the angular fret and meander (Illustration 12). The Ionic capital, belonging to a more feminine style, exhibits the abacus subordinated to that beautiful cushion- shaped member with its two spirally marked volutes. This, though a less rational and expressive form for its particular office than is the echinus of the Doric cap, is a far more perfect symbol of the feminine element in nature. There is an essential identity between the Ionic cap and the classic console before referred to — although superficially the two do not resemble each other — for a straight line and a double spiral are elements common to both (Illustration 10). The Corinthian capital consists of an ordered mass of delicately sculptured leaf and
UNITY AND POLARITY
37
scroll forms sustaining an abacus which though relatively masculine is yet more curved and feminine ■ than that of any other style. In the caulicole of a Corinthian cap In and Yo are again con- trasted. In the unique and exquisite capital from the Tower of the Winds at Athens, the two are well suggested in the simple, erect, and pointed leaf forms of the upper part, contrastd with the com- plex, deliquescent, rounded ones from which they spring. The essential iden- tity of principle subsisting between this cap and the Renaissance baluster by San Gallo is easily seen (Illustration 13).
This law of sex-expressiveness is of such universality that it can be made the basis of an analysis of the architectural orna- ment of any style or period. It is more than mere opposition and contrast. The egg and tongue motif, which has persisted throughout so many centuries and survived so many styles, exhibits an alternation of forms resembling phallic emblems. Yo and. In are well suggested in the channeled triglyphs and the sculptured metopes of a Doric frieze, in the straight and vertical mullions and the flowing tracery of Gothic windows, in the banded torus, the
-YO-
»vSiiimuM»A
-IN ->■]
C3RflCIAN DOE-tC CAP
IONIC CAP
12
bead and reel, and other familiar ornamented mouldings (Illustrations 14, 15, 16).
38
THE BEAUTIFUL
CAPrtAL FK.CM THE/TOW^aOP THE.WINDJ.
xxnms.
'wMm
CORINTHIAN CAP IRCMHAiaUAN BUILDINGS.
ATHENE.
lUDJ&TTE. FRiONt TCMPL&CP'MAW,, BOMB
I CAULICULDJI OFOCKiNTHtAN CAP
BALWTBE) BY SAN QAUQ
13
NECESSITY
There are indications that at some time during the development of Gothic* architecture in France, this sex-dis- tinction became a recog- nized principle, mould- ing and modifying the design of a cathedral in much the same way that sex modifies bodily structure. The masonic guilds of the Middle Ages were custodians of the esoteric — which is the theosophic — side of the Christian faith, and
fiOOANDTDNQUE.
every student of esotericism knows how fundamental and how far-reaching is this idea of sex.
I The entire cathedral symbolized the crucified body of Christ; its two towers, man and woman — that Adam and that Eve for whose redemption according to current teaching Christ suffered and was crucified. The north or right- hand tower ("the man's side") was called the sacred male pillar, Jachin; and the south, or left-hand tower ("the woman's side"), the sacred female pillar, Boaz, from the two columns flanking the gate to Solomon's Temple — itself an alle- gory to the 'bodily temple. In only a few of the French cathe-
&LADANDK££X«
EANDEDTOEUS
UNITY AND POLARITY
39
VO IN YO IN
H|HH|HHHHHHH|-l
FRIEZE OF TH; EAJlJ>IEyE. EALA.CE/
>^.■^■^■^. ■.•■•■>.■>•>
EOMAN C0N50Lt. VATICAN MUSBUM
FRIEZE IN THE EMPIR£. $TYLB BY PBRCJBR* AND FONTAINE/.
fri&2e from the temple of vesta attivoli.(roman)
EOMAN DDIilC FEJEZE VlGNOLE
15
drals is this distinction clearly and consistently maintained, and of these Tours forms perhaps the most remarkable example, for in its flamboyant fagade, over and above the difference in actual breadth and apparent sturdiness of the two towers (the south being the more slender and delicate), there is a clearly marked distinction in the character of the ornamentation, that of the north tower being more salient, angular, radial — more masculine in point of fact (Illustration 17). In Notre Dame, the cathe- dral of Paris, as in the cathedral of Tours, the north tower is per- ceptibly broader than the south. The only other important dif-
40
THE BEAUTIFUL NECESSITY
YD IN
EGYPTIAN ORNAMENT YO.IN
OaEEIC CiKNAMENT VD IN
PALA220 OIEAUD. KOKE
Vp IN
c
T
a
PMJZ20 FARNES£ EQNE VOIN .
e^^^
QRfiEKL, HONEY3U0KUS
ference appears to be in the angular label-mould above the north entrance: whatever may have been its original function or significance, it serves to de- fine the tower sexually, so to speak, as effectively as does the beard on a man's face. In Amiens the north tower is taller than the south, and more massive in its upper stages. The only traceable indication of sex in the orna- mentation occurs in the spandrels at the sides of the entrance arches: those of the north tower containing single circles, and those of the south tower containing two in one. This difference, small as it may seem, is significant, for in Europe during the Middle Ages, just as anciently in Egypt and again in Greece — in fact wher- ever and whenever the Secret Doctrine was known — sex was at- tributed to numbers, odd numbers being conceived of as mascu- line, and even, as feminine. Two, the first feminine number, thus became a symbol of femininity, accepted as such so univer- sally at the time the cathedrals were built, that two strokes of a bell announced the death of a woman, three, the death of a man.
The vital, organic quality so conspic- uous in the best Gothic architecture has been attributed to the fact that neces- sity determined its characteristic forms. Professor Goodyear has demonstrated that it may be due also in part to certain subtle vertical leans and horizontal bends; and to nicely calculated variations from strict uniformity,
16
9'i
^IN
17
A
ocmoo
r^
CLASSIC
THE ELEMBNTJ GP OOTHIC CO AND at CL&SSICCOARCHITECrOEJE;
UNITY AND POLARITY 41
which find their analogue in nature, where structure is seldom rigidly geometrical. The author hazards the theory that still another reason why a Gothic ca- thedral seems so living a thing is because it abounds in contrasts be- tween what, for lack of more de- scriptive adjectives, he is forced to call masculine and feminine forms.
Ruskin says, in Stones of Venice, "
"All good Gothic is nothing more than the development, in various ways, and on every conceivable scale, of the group formed by the pointed arch for the bearing line below, and the gable for the protecting line above, and from the huge, gray, shaly slope of the cathedral roof, with its elastic pointed vaults beneath, to the crown-like points that enrich the smallest niche of its doorway, one law and one expression will be found in all. The modes of support and of decoration are infinitely various, but the real character of the building, in