Notes

• "What is beauty? What is art? What is taste and fashion? Is beauty something to be observed coolly and rationally or is it something dangerously involving? So begins Umberto Eco’s journey into the aesthetics of beauty, a journey in which he explores the ever-changing concept of the beautiful from the ancient Greeks to today and questions the values that accompany the way we today register beauty, both past and present. While closely examining the development of the visual arts, and drawing on works of literature from each era, he broadens his enquiries to consider a range of concepts, including the idea of love, the unattainable woman, natural inspiration versus numeric formulas, and the continuing importance of ugliness, cruelty, and even the demonic." "In this, his first illustrated book, Professor Eco offers a layered approach that includes a running narrative, abundant examples of painting and sculpture, and lengthy quotations from writers and philosophers of each age, in addition to comparative tables."–BOOK JACKET