Blog 2: What is the definition of Beauty?

To expand upon the word “beauty”, beauty is the emotional cull towards an appealing object.  It objectifies as well as embodies everything that the individual believes and manifests itself into a visual aspect.  However, beauty can be arguable between communities, while what many may believe to be aesthetic, others may retort against the notion and deem it to be worthless in their eyes.  Hence the old proverb states, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.

To further reinstate the essence of “beauty”, some may use the words “art” or “natural” as a means to place a definition on the open-ended term.  However the words, “art” and “natural” can be seen as two seperate beings. While one places emphasis on visual and metaphorical contexts, the other describes the scientific aspect on the law of nature.  While the definitions of art and nature are unable to accurately describe “beauty”, instead beauty defines them. Beauty can be seen in both the artistic and scientific world as equals, thus through the example of the human body, I hope to show how the human anatomy has been an object to artist’s and scientist’s fascination for centuries.

For the artistic aspect, the difference between strength versus submissiveness was made visually apparent where the Renaissance was an age of glorifying the soft, bare features of women in contrast with the strong, muscular men.  Tintoretto is a prime example of the painters in the Ventian “Golden Age” of artists where he colorfully depicted narrative dramas from the bible. In the painting, Susanna and the Elders, the viewer can appreciate the soft and overflowing skin that define the curvatures of her body.  The lines on her stomach as she leans forward, the fat that hangs off the edges of the pool, and her delicate fingers interlaced with the fabric are depictions of appealing images of beauty in that era for women.  Much like the audience reactions, the painting depicts the jealousy and lust that two men share for Susanna.

Susanna and the Elders

To move forward on the scientific portion, Valverde de Amusco is one of the most vital figures in anatomist of the 16th century.  During the Renaissance, he inscribed a book full of images of the human anatomy called TheHistory of the Composition of the Human Body.  The book was famous for its visual representation of neuroanatomy and how it revolutionized the ugly truths under our skin.  From the image below, one can see how the body is “shedding” his outer layer of skin and the muscles of the body being stripped.  While the purpose of drawing it so was due to labeling reasons, the beautiful art demonstrates how we as humans are slowly understanding the deeper reasonings behind the functions of our body.  Hhis precise depiction would soon revolutionize the science world in that he became the first anatomist to accurately explain the movement of eye muscles and course of blood flow through our body system.

Velarde de Amusco in “Anatomia del Corpo Humano”

To reject my previous notion, while art and nature can be argued to be dissimilar, their similarities can be found in that they are the true definers of beauty.