Definition of beauty
Different reflections that the vicissitudes of the evolution of art, one of the most conspicuous was that focused on the problem of beauty. The delimitation of the aspects that gave beauty a work in particular can be traced back to antiquity, in the considerations of the Sophists and, subsequently, those of Plato and Aristotle.
As it was to be expected, these speculations are not depleted in the practice of the art, but it gross to a global consideration of the problem. It would be pretentious to give a comprehensive account of the different nuances that speculation reached at the dawn of Western culture. It is sufficient to point out that the concept of "harmony", "order" and "symmetry" was imposed to realize that that was the beauty. Thus, for example, a face can be beautiful by keeping the notion of symmetry, while a body by the proportion who keep their parties. This concept was based in particular on the so-called "Pythagorean school," in which beauty referentes with numerical and geometric concepts. It is worth to remember that the followers of Pythagoras recognized true symbols of beauty that is homologaban at the same time with the five elements (water, Earth, air, fire, and the legendary "fifth element") in the five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron).
With the advent of Christianity, the idea of God was decisive to characterize the aesthetic. Thus, the beauty of the sensible world consists of carry the imprint of the divine will: the order present in nature, which in antiquity was considered the substrate of the beautiful, was the expression of the intelligence of the creator. In this way, for example, one of the ways of St. Thomas for the demonstration of God's existence consisted of associated with the earthly order with the will of a higher consciousness. Even many employed in sacred music chants refer that "shows your greatness the beautiful creation", calling attention to the beauty of all that exists as a representation of the sublime intelligence of the Dios Creador.
The Renaissance, for his part, returned to take the concept of beauty that prevailed in classical Greece; the attempt to follow ways and keep proportions again gained force and is project in artistic expressions that still keep their validity. A clear example of the importance that is accorded him a harmonious form can give it "Vitruvius man", by Leonardo Da Vinci, which establishes the human proportions. Indeed, Renaissance painting, and by extension the other arts, took up the ideal of the beautiful, harmonious and symmetrical body present in the Greco-Roman culture. This stage arises the anatomical study intended to lead to greater respect for the proportions, highlighted in the sculpture and large artistic aspects of the time.
Please note that in the Baroque movement, beauty took a different account that has been repeated in other stages of the history of art. So, while the beauty of the classical Greece or Renaissance way to harmony and forms (Apollonian beauty, in reference to the figure of the God Apollo), the men of the Baroque acknowledged a profane present even in aspects such as the melancholy beauty, what little graceful and even grotesque (Dionysian beauty, in reference to the figure of the God Dionysus or Bacchus). Thus, it is often noted that before a picture of the nature, the classical movements appreciate the beauty of a rose, while the Baroque canons warn the beauty in the mud in which both rose.
Apart from the differences that the concept could hold throughout history until the consolidation of the Renaissance, notably that it always remained a fundamental trait as permanent: the idea of uniqueness. Indeed, so far, the conception of the beautiful driving to try to discover universal patterns, which despite being questionable, a notion of absolute; It is still unthinkable to consider beauty as something socially determined. It will be the 20th century where these perspectives come greater vigour, leaving aside the conceptions of antiquity and the middle ages. At the present time, the paradox of beauty understood in different ways by each of the cultures of the globe, but immersed in the modern idea of globalization must be accepted. Certain patterns of beauty of Western culture have begun to spread in different nations of the Earth, to give rise to some "universal standards" of beauty, both in relation to the Arts (painting, sculpture, literature, film, theatre and even the digital art) and with regard to the canons of physical beauty, both in men and in women. Perhaps the best way to understand the complex concept of beauty is to recognize the strong subjective component of this abstract idea, which varies from person to person in all societies.
As it was to be expected, these speculations are not depleted in the practice of the art, but it gross to a global consideration of the problem. It would be pretentious to give a comprehensive account of the different nuances that speculation reached at the dawn of Western culture. It is sufficient to point out that the concept of "harmony", "order" and "symmetry" was imposed to realize that that was the beauty. Thus, for example, a face can be beautiful by keeping the notion of symmetry, while a body by the proportion who keep their parties. This concept was based in particular on the so-called "Pythagorean school," in which beauty referentes with numerical and geometric concepts. It is worth to remember that the followers of Pythagoras recognized true symbols of beauty that is homologaban at the same time with the five elements (water, Earth, air, fire, and the legendary "fifth element") in the five regular solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron).
With the advent of Christianity, the idea of God was decisive to characterize the aesthetic. Thus, the beauty of the sensible world consists of carry the imprint of the divine will: the order present in nature, which in antiquity was considered the substrate of the beautiful, was the expression of the intelligence of the creator. In this way, for example, one of the ways of St. Thomas for the demonstration of God's existence consisted of associated with the earthly order with the will of a higher consciousness. Even many employed in sacred music chants refer that "shows your greatness the beautiful creation", calling attention to the beauty of all that exists as a representation of the sublime intelligence of the Dios Creador.
The Renaissance, for his part, returned to take the concept of beauty that prevailed in classical Greece; the attempt to follow ways and keep proportions again gained force and is project in artistic expressions that still keep their validity. A clear example of the importance that is accorded him a harmonious form can give it "Vitruvius man", by Leonardo Da Vinci, which establishes the human proportions. Indeed, Renaissance painting, and by extension the other arts, took up the ideal of the beautiful, harmonious and symmetrical body present in the Greco-Roman culture. This stage arises the anatomical study intended to lead to greater respect for the proportions, highlighted in the sculpture and large artistic aspects of the time.
Please note that in the Baroque movement, beauty took a different account that has been repeated in other stages of the history of art. So, while the beauty of the classical Greece or Renaissance way to harmony and forms (Apollonian beauty, in reference to the figure of the God Apollo), the men of the Baroque acknowledged a profane present even in aspects such as the melancholy beauty, what little graceful and even grotesque (Dionysian beauty, in reference to the figure of the God Dionysus or Bacchus). Thus, it is often noted that before a picture of the nature, the classical movements appreciate the beauty of a rose, while the Baroque canons warn the beauty in the mud in which both rose.
Apart from the differences that the concept could hold throughout history until the consolidation of the Renaissance, notably that it always remained a fundamental trait as permanent: the idea of uniqueness. Indeed, so far, the conception of the beautiful driving to try to discover universal patterns, which despite being questionable, a notion of absolute; It is still unthinkable to consider beauty as something socially determined. It will be the 20th century where these perspectives come greater vigour, leaving aside the conceptions of antiquity and the middle ages. At the present time, the paradox of beauty understood in different ways by each of the cultures of the globe, but immersed in the modern idea of globalization must be accepted. Certain patterns of beauty of Western culture have begun to spread in different nations of the Earth, to give rise to some "universal standards" of beauty, both in relation to the Arts (painting, sculpture, literature, film, theatre and even the digital art) and with regard to the canons of physical beauty, both in men and in women. Perhaps the best way to understand the complex concept of beauty is to recognize the strong subjective component of this abstract idea, which varies from person to person in all societies.