DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0082
G8
BEAUTY.
Regularity Uniformity and Proportion are essentials of architectural drawings in particular.
Variety and Simplicity belong to every part of both animate and inanimate objects. What Ho-
garth, in his analysis of beauty,has delivered on the subjects of Intricacy and Simplicity,deserves
attention, as tending to guard the young practitioner from extremes. " It may be imagined/'
says he, " that the greatest part of the effects of beauty results from the symmetry of parts in the
object which is beautiful; but I am very well persuaded this prevailing notion will soon appear to
have little or no foundation. It may indeed have properties of greater consequence, such as
propriety,fitness, and use; and yet but little serve the purposes of pleasing the eye, merely on the
score of beauty. We have indeed, in our nature a love of imitation from our infancy, and the
eye is often entertained, as well as surprised, with mimicry, and delighted with the exactness of
counterparts: but then this always gives way to its superior love of variety, and soon grows tiresome.
Tf the uniformity of figures parts or iines were truly the chief cause of beauty, the more exactly uni-
form their appearances were kept, the more pleasure the eye would receive: but this is so far from
being the case that, when the mind has been once satisfied that the parts answer one another, with
so exact an uniformity as to preserve to the whole the character of fitness, to stand, to move, to sink,
to swim, to fly, &c. without losing the balance, the eye is rejoiced to see the object turned and
shifted, so as to vary these uniform appearances. Thus the profiles of most objects as well as faces
are rather more pleasing than their full fronts. Whence it is clear, the pleasure does not arise from
seeing the exact resemblance which one side bears to the other, but from the knowledge that they
do so, on account of fitness, with design, and for use. For when the head of a fine woman is
turned a little to one side, which takes off from the exact similarity of the twohalvesof the face, and
somewhat reclining,so varying still more from the straight and parallel lines of a formal front face,
it is always looked upon as most pleasing. This is accordingly said to be a graceful air of the head.
" It is a constant rule of composition in painting to avoid regularity. When we view a build-
ing, or any other object, we have it in our power, by shifting the ground, to take that view of it
which pleases us best; and, in consequence of this, the painter (if he is left to his choice) takes
it on. the angle rather than in front, as most agreeable to the eye; because the regularity of the
lines is taken away by their running into perspective,without losing the idea of fitness: and when
he is of necessity obliged to give the front of a building,with all its equalities and parallelisms, he
generally breaks (as it is termed) such disagreeable appearances, by throwing a tree before it, or
the shadow of an imaginary cloud, or some other object that may answer the same purpose of
adding variety, which is the same with taking away uniformity.
" In my mind odd numbers have the advantage over even ones, as variety is more pleasing
than uniformity, where the same end is answered by both; and I cannot help observing that
nature, in all her works of fancy if I may be allowed the expression, where it seems immaterial
whether even or odd numbers of divisions were preferred, most frequently employs the odd ; as
for example, in the indenting of leaves, flowers, blossoms, &c.
" The oval also, on account of its variety with simplicity, is as much to be preferred to the cir-
cle, as the triangle to the square,or the pyramid to the cube ; and this figure, lessened at one end
like the egg, thereby being more varied, is singled out by the author of all variety to bound the
features of a beautiful face. When the oval has a little more of the cone added to it than the egg
has, it becomes more distinctly a compound of those two most simple varied figures. This is the
shape of the pine-apple, which nature has so particularly distinguished, by bestowing rich orna-
ments
BEAUTY.
Regularity Uniformity and Proportion are essentials of architectural drawings in particular.
Variety and Simplicity belong to every part of both animate and inanimate objects. What Ho-
garth, in his analysis of beauty,has delivered on the subjects of Intricacy and Simplicity,deserves
attention, as tending to guard the young practitioner from extremes. " It may be imagined/'
says he, " that the greatest part of the effects of beauty results from the symmetry of parts in the
object which is beautiful; but I am very well persuaded this prevailing notion will soon appear to
have little or no foundation. It may indeed have properties of greater consequence, such as
propriety,fitness, and use; and yet but little serve the purposes of pleasing the eye, merely on the
score of beauty. We have indeed, in our nature a love of imitation from our infancy, and the
eye is often entertained, as well as surprised, with mimicry, and delighted with the exactness of
counterparts: but then this always gives way to its superior love of variety, and soon grows tiresome.
Tf the uniformity of figures parts or iines were truly the chief cause of beauty, the more exactly uni-
form their appearances were kept, the more pleasure the eye would receive: but this is so far from
being the case that, when the mind has been once satisfied that the parts answer one another, with
so exact an uniformity as to preserve to the whole the character of fitness, to stand, to move, to sink,
to swim, to fly, &c. without losing the balance, the eye is rejoiced to see the object turned and
shifted, so as to vary these uniform appearances. Thus the profiles of most objects as well as faces
are rather more pleasing than their full fronts. Whence it is clear, the pleasure does not arise from
seeing the exact resemblance which one side bears to the other, but from the knowledge that they
do so, on account of fitness, with design, and for use. For when the head of a fine woman is
turned a little to one side, which takes off from the exact similarity of the twohalvesof the face, and
somewhat reclining,so varying still more from the straight and parallel lines of a formal front face,
it is always looked upon as most pleasing. This is accordingly said to be a graceful air of the head.
" It is a constant rule of composition in painting to avoid regularity. When we view a build-
ing, or any other object, we have it in our power, by shifting the ground, to take that view of it
which pleases us best; and, in consequence of this, the painter (if he is left to his choice) takes
it on. the angle rather than in front, as most agreeable to the eye; because the regularity of the
lines is taken away by their running into perspective,without losing the idea of fitness: and when
he is of necessity obliged to give the front of a building,with all its equalities and parallelisms, he
generally breaks (as it is termed) such disagreeable appearances, by throwing a tree before it, or
the shadow of an imaginary cloud, or some other object that may answer the same purpose of
adding variety, which is the same with taking away uniformity.
" In my mind odd numbers have the advantage over even ones, as variety is more pleasing
than uniformity, where the same end is answered by both; and I cannot help observing that
nature, in all her works of fancy if I may be allowed the expression, where it seems immaterial
whether even or odd numbers of divisions were preferred, most frequently employs the odd ; as
for example, in the indenting of leaves, flowers, blossoms, &c.
" The oval also, on account of its variety with simplicity, is as much to be preferred to the cir-
cle, as the triangle to the square,or the pyramid to the cube ; and this figure, lessened at one end
like the egg, thereby being more varied, is singled out by the author of all variety to bound the
features of a beautiful face. When the oval has a little more of the cone added to it than the egg
has, it becomes more distinctly a compound of those two most simple varied figures. This is the
shape of the pine-apple, which nature has so particularly distinguished, by bestowing rich orna-
ments