The Dialogue, or What is Beauty?
Do you remember the first time you encountered a truly beautiful work of art, and how it totally gripped you?
For me, the first inklings of Beauty were hinted at in a painting showed in a museum of modern art. Although it was a painting by Salvador Dalí, it made little 9-year-old me interested in Renaissance art, as at that particular exhibition it was called “Blown up Botticelli”. I had a similar experience with popularized classical music, which opened the door to the real thing.
Painting by Salvador Dalí
Ever since, I have wanted to understand the concept of Beauty better. I know what I like, and what I don’t like. But I have long suspected that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, as it is said, but that it truly is in the mind. I can recognize when that resonating string in my chest has been strummed. But I couldn’t put it in words, until I encountered the philosophy of Plato and Thomas Aquinas, aided by the explanations of Denis McNamara.
According to Thomas, Beauty has three properties, in Latin: Integritas, Consonantia, and Claritas.
Integritas: Wholeness, completeness. A thing has all the parts and shapes that it needs to have in order to be what it is. It has to be True.
Consonantia: Harmony, proportion, dignity. This word also has a dimension of the thing showing its purpose, and reason for existing. It has Goodness.
Claritas: This is the most difficult word, as ‘clarity’ isn’t enough to convey its meaning. It is a radiance that communicates with the viewer’s mind, so clearly that we can grasp it, and truly understand it. The result is that I ‘have it in my mind’, that I have internalized the object’s message about its true nature. It conveys Beauty.
One way to make these categories clear is when a thing lacks them. We’ll use the photo of a building to understand better.
What on earth is that used for? As we can’t read the purpose of the edifice from its exterior, it lacks Integritas. It has our minds working hard trying to figure out what it actually is.
Is it a power plant? It doesn’t show its purpose and reason for existing, which annoys our minds, and therefore the building lacks Consonantia.
Is it a prison? As it lacks clarity and radiance, it can’t communicate itself to our minds, and there’s no clarity there, so it lacks Claritas.
I’m not joking when I say that it is an addition to the most prestigious Liljevalch’s Art Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden. Most people find it rather lacking the aspect of Beauty.
Back to Thomas Aquinas: His meaning is that if a thing has two of the categories, it can be pleasant or pretty. We can even find ugly things interesting and pleasing.
But for true Beauty, a thing needs all three categories. It needs to convey Truth, Goodness, and Beauty to our minds and souls.
Click here to see the painting The Dialogue in a larger format.
