Friday, July 07, 2006
John Ruskin's elements of Gothic Beauty
as found in 'On Art and Life' by Ruskin
put out in the Penguin 'Great Ideas' books.
'You can either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him....you cannot make both'.
Ruskin explains Beauty is a process in which man participates.
Rudeness is introduced at the beginning, where originality is brought to bear by allowing the workman to add what he thinks is good, as opposed to striving for a perfect polished finish.
Next comes Changefulness....
The art of providing a good measure of Monotany and Change. Here we must imitate Nature's two-fold mode of change. One harmonious, the other abrupt.
Following comes Naturalness.....
In Gothic Cathedrals, the arches rise and meet each other...much like the branches of tall trees in a wood. When the craftsmen chose ornamentation, they often chose foliage, greenery and flowers....all carved into stone with a most circumspect attitude.
Where then comes Grotesqueness
I haven't studied this one yet.
Then Rigidity....
Power is transferred from one member to another in a simple, efficient manner.
Lastly, Redundancy...
Liberal allowance for Beauty. Bountiful.
So to wind up, the six elements of Gothic Beauty are Rudeness, Changefulness, Naturalness, Grotesqueness, Rigidity and finally Redundancy.
I believe these elements of Gothic Beauty can be generalized to much of Beauty, where I see in Nature all of these elements all the time.
as found in 'On Art and Life' by Ruskin
put out in the Penguin 'Great Ideas' books.
'You can either make a tool of the creature, or a man of him....you cannot make both'.
Ruskin explains Beauty is a process in which man participates.
Rudeness is introduced at the beginning, where originality is brought to bear by allowing the workman to add what he thinks is good, as opposed to striving for a perfect polished finish.
Next comes Changefulness....
The art of providing a good measure of Monotany and Change. Here we must imitate Nature's two-fold mode of change. One harmonious, the other abrupt.
Following comes Naturalness.....
In Gothic Cathedrals, the arches rise and meet each other...much like the branches of tall trees in a wood. When the craftsmen chose ornamentation, they often chose foliage, greenery and flowers....all carved into stone with a most circumspect attitude.
Where then comes Grotesqueness
I haven't studied this one yet.
Then Rigidity....
Power is transferred from one member to another in a simple, efficient manner.
Lastly, Redundancy...
Liberal allowance for Beauty. Bountiful.
So to wind up, the six elements of Gothic Beauty are Rudeness, Changefulness, Naturalness, Grotesqueness, Rigidity and finally Redundancy.
I believe these elements of Gothic Beauty can be generalized to much of Beauty, where I see in Nature all of these elements all the time.
