Does beauty have laws? Golden Section and Symmetry

The concept of "beauty", as you know, is abstract. About the fact, whether there is a beauty of its laws, people have thought since the earliest days. They are still arguing on this topic. But still, are there any natural, unshakable laws of beauty that would be perceived as generally accepted? Or is this concept of an individual character? What is harmony? Symmetry and asymmetry? We will try to talk about this and many other things in this material.

The laws of beauty in the art of the Ancient World

At the beginning of time, at the dawn of human society, both the Egyptians and the Chinese mathematically substantiated harmony by division and the ratio of segments according to the formula a / b = b / (a + b), where a is less than b. The Greeks associated harmony with the concepts of "measure" and "harmony", deriving from this "the consent of the dissent" and the principles of the organization of music and sounds. In a rounded form - the division of any value in the ratio of 62% and 38% - the number is limited to 1.62.

Golden Section in Art and Architecture

Whether there is a beauty of its laws, we can learn from the example of the global art history. The proportions of many pyramids in Ancient Egypt correspond to the rule of the "golden section". This rule was also used in the manufacture of objects of everyday life, ornaments, bas-reliefs (by the way, in spite of this, according to sociological surveys, many modern people consider such proportions excessively extended).

Leonardo da Vinci and many other artists consciously used these "divine proportions" and relationships. Current scientists have established that the entire universe, from the microcosm to the galaxies, in general, corresponds to this law of beauty. Living organisms also have a "golden section". This law is universal. Proportion is a kind of standard, a matrix. A deviation from it - rather an exception to the rules, confirming the law (caused, for example, by adaptation to the environment).

Symmetry and asymmetry

Whether beauty has its laws, we can observe also by studying the phenomenon of symmetry. This concept is found in many spheres of human activity. In particular - in art and architecture. What is it?

Translation from Greek - proportionality or immutability. And also - order, proportionality. These are the main characteristics of this concept. In living and inanimate nature, this phenomenon is quite developed, and it can often be observed. A vivid example is the wings of a butterfly or the design of a human face. However, in nature, symmetry is never complete, absolute. And similar parts will not coincide with absolute precision.

In mathematics and geometry, on the contrary, this concept reaches absolute values. So, in geometry, symmetry is the ability of figures to display, which preserves their shape and properties. Roughly speaking, a figure is considered to be symmetrical, transforming itself into a linear transformation.

Symmetry in art

The idea of absolute linear representation pervades the art of ancient Greece. Remember the strictly symmetrical forms of ancient monuments, objects of everyday life (for example, Greek vases). This phenomenon is most clearly reflected in the ornaments of many peoples of the world. In different epochs, the idea of symmetry in images - consciously or unconsciously - was used by many artists and sculptors. The regularity of repetitions is characteristic even for oral and song creativity, starting from ancient times. Thus, to the question: "Does beauty have its own laws?" You can answer that one of them is symmetry. By the way, the asymmetry in the works of some artists (Picasso, Dali and some others), as an exception to the rules, only emphasizes the operation of the fundamental law.