What is beauty and how to find it in people, nature and art

Man is a being who seeks beauty. It is enough to visit any archaeological or ethnographic museum to realize that indeed One of the main interests of human beings at all times has been to surround themselves with beautiful objects.

Even today we see in the reports of lost tribes how the indigenous people beautifully adorn the few utensils or clothes they have. It seems that they need to do it to be at peace with themselves, their ancestors and the nature that surrounds them.

That’s why In all cultures, crafts, practical beauty, have been the simplest and most effective expression of beauty. But what do we consider beautiful? Do we know how to see and enjoy beauty?

What is beauty? A definition

Beauty is a quality that we find in very diverse fields..

sometimes it’s great Like a gothic cathedral or a Bach concerto, others humble and hidden, like a small flower that nobody notices.

Aesthetics, a discipline that deals with these issues, has had differing views on the nature of beauty according to times and cultures.

The thinkers of antiquityboth in the East and in the West, they have seen in the divine the origin of all beauty. God is a creative artist and man, made in his image, is a work of art and an artist at the same time.

Beginning of the Renaissancethe objective sense of beauty is being lost and, after romanticism, the figure of the artist is praised in a special way. This is then free to adhere or not to certain canons, and can even dispense with what is commonly understood by beauty.

The “vanguards” from the beginning of the 20th century (dadaism, cubism, surrealism… ) were born as a reaction to an overly academic conception of art. But have given rise to a certain cult of “ugliness” which persists to this day. So that not always in the plastic arts we will be able to find that beauty that we need.

It is often thought that beauty is something subjective and relative., “for tastes, colors”. There is some truth in such an assertion: each race and each era has its aesthetic preferences. Voltaire was already ironic commenting that for the toad the ideal of beauty is the female of its species, with large bulging eyes and satin skin.

The capture of beauty undoubtedly has a subjective side that depends on the receiver, but it must not be forgotten that it is a response to an objective stimulus.

Therefore, it is not convenient to relativize in an absolute way the idea of ​​beauty. It could be said that it exists independently of us and has its laws, and it is our job to find or manifest it.

A definition of beauty could be harmony of the forms. But understanding these in a broad sense, because a landscape, a work of art or a certain behavior can be so beautiful.

Is there not beauty, for example, in an act of love or justice? Aesthetics and ethics have a lot in common. as do beauty and goodness.

Inner and outer beauty in people

We all appreciate beauty, as if it were an instinct we are born with.. Already the children in their cradle look at the most beautiful faces they perceive.

It can also be said that women are especially sensitive to beauty, since they like to take care of their face and figure, as well as adorn themselves with jewelry. It’s like the feminine archetype, in its aspect of radiance that attractswill manifest the beautiful with greater intensity.

Of course the “guapura” occurs in both sexesbut there are studies that show that when a man is decided to be remarkably handsome, there are certain feminine features in his face (especially eyes and mouth) apart from his masculine appearance.

It cannot be denied that body beauty has always been socially appreciated. It constitutes a kind of power that allows one to break through more easily. But its importance should not be exaggerated..

The inner beauty, a noble and agreeable character, is not only more durable as old age approaches, but even makes the features more graceful, regardless of whether one is more or less handsome. It has even been found that the more beautiful you feel, the more beautiful others see you.

Our country has the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently practiced frivolous intent cosmetic surgery (normal people who want to modify their face or body), forgetting that often these changes They don’t blend in well with the rest. and that to be happy one must assume with joyful resignation some of his physical imperfections.

It is sometimes stated that “we are what we eat”. If this is true to any degree, it is also true that “we are what we see.”

Hence the importance that in the environment where you live there is a minimum harmony of forms, an adequate degree of beauty could be said; which is not always easy in our days of crushing technology.

Beauty in art and nature

The primary realm of beautywhere it manifests itself with greater splendor, is nature and the cosmos.

From the silent “music of the spheres” executed by the movement of the planets around the sun, to the course of the rivers and seas, passing through the colorful and diverse forms of plants and animals, a whole symphony of life stretches out before us. And this through determined rhythms and proportions.

Nothing to do, just contemplate with gratitude tinged with wonder that beauty. But it’s also in human nature project the beautiful through their actions.

This is how art itself was born.which in principle is limited to the execution of the simplest objects (vessels for water or oil, furniture, clothing… ) and is enlarged somewhat more when it comes to building temples where numinous or spiritual influences (of God , gods or angels) can manifest.

there is no in these ancient eras a cult of the beautiful in the sense of aestheticism, nor an excessive appreciation of the artist – mere craftsman in such cases.

If beauty is a matter of artists or more or less sophisticated people is a frequent misjudgmentso is confuse beauty with perfection.

No authentic beauty is free from technical or formal imperfections. As the poet Charles Baudelaire wrote: “irregularity, that is, the unexpected, surprise or stupor are essential and characteristic elements of beauty.” The beautiful purity of a Chinese porcelain vase is “imperfect” when compared to the soulless “perfection” from a can of soda.

Art can arouse sublime experiences, such as when contemplating the Taj Mahal, or simpler and more everyday experiences, but always charged with emotion.

There are many forms of beauty, just as diverse can be the landscapes, without being able to decide for that reason that a sandy desert is more or less beautiful than a jungle or a glacier. As JL Borges stated: “beauty is a beautiful mystery that neither psychology nor rhetoric decipher”.

The beauty of the golden number

According to Pythagoras, the world and its beauty would obey mathematical and musical laws.

The so-called “Golden Number”, whose value is 1,618 and is represented by the Greek letter Φ, has special relevance.

It has been verified that the growth of plants, the distribution of leaves on a stem or flower petals, as well as the formation of shells, respond to these golden ratios.

Also the ideal proportions of the human body (remember the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci) obey this number: length and width of the head, phalanges of the fingers, shape of the teeth.

The golden ratio has also been used to build buildings of renowned beauty such as the Cheops pyramid, the Parthenon or Gothic cathedrals.

How to capture beauty

If we have said that we are beauty seekers, there are two ways to do it.

The first is to notice its obvious presencewhat happens before nature, sacred art or the works of great geniuses. The other is to discover its sparkles in the most diverse situations.

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone can see it,” warns Confucius. It’s like saying that beauty is not so much in things as in the eyes of those who look at them.

Of course, not everything is beautiful, in the same way that some foods are tastier than others. But beauty always produces a special sensation. It is the pinch that those who like flamenco talk about, something ineffable which ancient Indian art treatises define as “taste” (rasa).

In our time certain poets, musicians, photographers or filmmakers have known how to capture those bits of beauty. Often without the need for great technical fanfare, as happens for example in black and white films by directors such as Dreyer, Lang, Ford or Rossellini.

If I were asked what is the work of art that best expresses the beauty of the human figuremaybe I leaned towards Tutankhamun’s golden mask that can be seen in the Cairo museum and that is reproduced in so many books, since its face of gold and lapis lazuli seems to reveal our spiritual essence.

And if it were a matter of choosing a living expressionI would say that the smile of a little childof which they hardly know how to speak. hope and joy that touches the heart directly. Parents make many sacrifices for their children, but just one of those smiles makes up for them, as it expresses life and its beauty.

The 7 facets of beauty

Like colors and musical notes, beauty can be classified into 7 main qualities, whose combinations produce as many possible aspects of beauty.

Sun. In a material sense it corresponds to all that glittersto gold and jewels. In its deepest dimension, it is related to the presence of the spiritual in art and life.Moon. In correspondence with the beauty that comes from the imagination or dreams. Important in poetry. It is also related to night landscapes.Mercury. The beauty implicit in the ability to communicate and speed in doing it. Literary narratives and, especially, cinema and audiovisual media.Venus. It is related to the beauty that is born from the eroticism and voluptuousness. Perfumes, dresses, interest in fashion. The naked body in art.Mars. The warrior’s virtues: spirit of sacrifice and fighting ability. Martial arts and, by extension, aesthetics in the sport.Jupiter. Has relation with the sumptuous and social etiquette. The theater, the opera, the parades, the parties and commemorations around a good table.Saturn. The beauty that comes from the passage of time, the patina of old objects, the melancholy of landscapes with old buildings or ruins. The very concept of museum.

Books on beauty, mathematics, spirituality and art

Principles and methods of sacred art; Titus Burckhard. Ed. Olañetaphotographing mathematics; Luisa Marques et al. Ed. Carroggio