Painting Ugliness

Among the massive number of themes captured throughout the History of Art, some being preeminent than others and always depending on the era in which they were explored, the beauty of the human body was always in the minds of artists and creators. Already in Antiquity, the canon of beauty was established, with very specific proportions and a general vision that was the legacy that many years ago would be recovered during the Renaissance, after the medieval period in which other artistic precepts were followed. With that canon as a reference, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the beauty of the body was considered a direct sign of the goodness of the soul, a palpable reflection of the interior of the human being. In the biblical texts (remember that the Catholic Church dominated all social strata), Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, which intrinsically means that he was beautiful. In the same way, Jesus, the incarnation of God on earth, also enjoyed a divine beauty; being a divine reflection of the Father, he had to be beautiful by consistent logic. At a somewhat lower level but of equal hierarchical importance in the society of that time, a good prince was represented with high doses of beauty, sometimes even distorting (for the better) the real image of the character portrayed. In the precepts of the artists, there was a succinct obligation to represent the protagonists of their works with a beautiful face since it was understood that those who were to rule or reign possessed a strength over the rest of the spirits that were manifested through that beauty. <a href="https://medium.com/the-collector/painting-ugliness-2dbad9e5487">Visit Now</a>