The Sister Arts - British Gardening, Painting, & Poetry (1700-1832)
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Beautiful > Intro

In his famous 1758 treatise, Edmund Burke defines Beauty as “a name I shall apply to all such qualities in things as induce in us a sense of affection and tenderness, or some other passion most nearly resembling these…It is not by the force of long attention and enquiry that we find any object to be beautiful; beauty demands no assistance from our reasoning; even the will is unconcerned; the appearance of beauty as effectually causes some degree of love in us, as the application of ice or fire produces the ideas of heat or cold.” Burke says that the Beautiful appeals to us immediately and emotionally. Softness, sweetness, charm, and delicate sounds are associated with Beauty. Burke also believed that the Beautiful lacked energy and vitality compared to the Sublime, and was restful to contemplate.

 

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