First Principles of Symmetrical Beauty

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W. Blackwood and sons, 1846 - Aesthetics - 88 pages
 

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Page 62 - The several parts which constitute a temple ought to be subject to the laws of symmetry ; the principles of which should be familiar to all who profess the science of architecture. Symmetry results from proportion, which, in the Greek language is termed analogy. Proportion is the commensuration of the various constituent parts with the whole, in the existence of which symmetry is found to consist.
Page 1 - Corinthian virgin, who was of marriageable age, fell a victim to a violent disorder ; after her interment, her nurse, collecting in a basket those articles to which she had shown a partiality when alive, carried them to her tomb, and placed a tile on the basket for the longer preservation of its contents. The basket was accidentally placed on the root of an...
Page 1 - After her interment, her nurse, collecting in a basket those articles to which she had shewn a partiality when alive, carried them to her tomb, and placed a tile on the basket for the longer preservation of its contents. The basket was accidentally placed on the root of an acanthus plant, which, pressed by the weight, shot forth, towards spring, its stems and large foliage, and in the course of its growth reached the angles of the tile, and thus formed volutes at the extremities. Callimachus, who,...
Page 7 - To use the words of Channing, " The farmer and the mechanic should cultivate the perception of beauty,' and every man should aim to impart this perfection to his labours. Were every man a judge and appreciator of beauty, then indeed might we expect forms of grace and loveliness of colour to pervade domestic and everyday life— to replace, in our streets, the expensive ugliness of which we have so much, and in our homes to abolish the ornamental vulgarities of bad taste. The Naturally Colour-blind.
Page 18 - As ALL BEAUTY is the result of harmony, it will be requisite here to remark, that harmony is not a simple quality, but, as Aristotle defines it, "the union of contrary principles having a ratio to each other." Harmony thus operates in the production of all that is beautiful in nature, whether in the combinations, in the motions, or in the affinities of the elements of matter. The contrary principles to which Aristotle alludes, are those of uniformity and variety; for, according to the predominance...
Page 8 - First, a constant reference to the best models of art necessarily tends to enervate the mind, to intercept our view of nature, and to distract the attention by a variety of unattainable excellence. An intimate acquaintance with the works of the celebrated masters may indeed add to the indolent refinements of taste, but will never produce one work of original genius, one great artist.
Page 6 - THE study of the true, the good, and the beautiful, has formed an important occupation of life in all highly civilized nations, and has been inculcated by the truest patriots and the highest philanthropists. Science, virtue, and beauty, form the noblest elements of creation, and of the human soul — they form the first objects of our national institutions, the highest elements of a national character, and the best themes of a national literature.
Page 62 - For no building can possess the attributes of composition in which symmetry and proportion are disregarded ; nor unless there exists that perfect conformation of parts which may be observed in a well-formed human being.
Page 1 - Catatechnos, happening at this time to pass by the tomb, observed the basket, and the delicacy of the foliage which surrounded it. Pleased with the form and novelty of the combination, he constructed from the hint thus afforded, columns of this species in the country about Corinth, and arranged its proportions, determining their proper measures by perfect rules.

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