Aesthetic Contrasts: Greek, Christian, and Romantic Views on Beauty
Aesthetic Differences: Greek, Christian, and Romantic Perspectives
Greek Aesthetic: Objective Harmony
For the Greeks, beauty was an objective property of reality, inherent in the harmony of natural forms. This harmony, according to Aristotle, was based on precise outlines and mathematical proportions, creating a graceful symmetry that imbued objects with fineness and lightness. This transcendental beauty was a property of any existing object.
Christian Aesthetic: Divine Creation
Christianity viewed God’s creation as a work of art, with God as the artist. The forms of nature were seen as translations of divine designs. Things are beautiful because God created them so, and absolute beauty is God’s heritage. Aesthetic experience, therefore, becomes intertwined with religious experience, as the search for beauty ultimately leads to God, the source of all beauty.
Contrasting Conceptions: Greek vs. Christian
If beauty resides in nature, and art seeks to capture it, then Greek art is fundamentally an imitation (mimesis) of nature, a masterpiece that the artist can never fully surpass.
Christian art, like any art form, aims to capture and express beauty. However, because beauty is a divine attribute, and divinity cannot be fully represented in living forms, art becomes a second-order imitation. It imitates nature, which in turn reflects divine forms. God is represented through sacred scripture, allowing for a rich tradition of Christian icons and scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
Romanticism: The Sublime and Passion
The Romantic Idea of Beauty
Romanticism embraced subjectivity and passion, leading to the discovery of the sublime. The sublime is a powerful force that overwhelms the individual, producing a kind of annihilation. It transcends rules and measures, recognizing no sanity or compassion. This beauty is terrible, yet irresistibly attractive. The sublime is accessible only to the genius.
Romanticism: Art and the Sublime
Conception of Art in Romanticism
Because the sublime defies rules and measures, Romantic art rebelled against Neoclassical reason. Romantic art sought to represent nature in all its violence and power, and to depict the darker aspects of human existence, such as suffering and sickness.
The Problem of Reality
Reality and Idealism
Idealists argue that reality is fundamentally idea. Dualists divide reality into essence and characteristics. Materialists propose that reality has different levels of organization.