Comments on: Question of the Week: Is Beauty A Curse?

By: Contributor

Contributor — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:00:26 +0000

What an interesting article. Looking at the face of the woman depicted as Helen on this plate, I really thought properly for the first time that there was a very real possibility that she was completely innocent. That got me thinking about women through the ages. Mary Magdalene has been termed a prostitute for hundreds of years, yet according to ancient sources she was merely demon-possessed; in our time, this translates as simply ‘ill’. (Maybe she had schizophrenia or epilepsy). It seems those who would like to consider themselves experts at history have always liked to portray women as wilful sinners or harlots, simply because they possessed the mystique and beauty that is a woman’s special attribute. Maybe Helen was no different. I once read that beauty/art is a mirror. She brings out the parts of us that are hidden but most central to our being. Thus the brave find their courage, the sadistic find their cruelty and so on. It is worth noting that Achilles acted in a very different way to Paris in the face of this beauty, and that this ancient hero became the inspiration of the world’s greatest military conqueror, Alexander the Great.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:07:45 +0000

I appreciate Darlene’s point that “most of us pursue beauty in our own lives,” inferring its wider application beyond personal attractiveness to the adornment of our worlds. Is it not this pursuit of beauty that inspired the creation and market for so many artworks that delight us to this day? I imagine the original owners of this maiolica plate depicting the Abduction of Helen were pleased to display it among their treasured objects, not only for their satisfaction at owning something so lovely, and the prestige it afforded them, but for the interesting and potentially enlightening conversations it could inspire.

By: Darlene

Darlene — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:17:24 +0000

Beauty like anything else can be a curse or it can be the end of of all pursuits as most of us pursue beauty in our own lives. It is very similar to money for me. I know people that do amazing things with money and others that simply just can’t handle it.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:49:00 +0000

Bekka’s comment brings to mind a story i once heard and have never forgotten. It is said that the great Ella Fitzgerald confessed in an interview she’d have gladly given up her musical gift to have been born a “beautiful” woman. I remember being profoundly saddened by this comment, as I felt my own life had been so enriched by her music. If indeed this were true, and she’d have had her wish, then the price for beauty in this case would have been paid by a world of music lovers deprived of her amazing voice.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:35:02 +0000

Jeanette is right that there is a universal draw to stories about “beautiful people”, as evidenced in the enduring quality of much classical art and literature, right up to today’s popular media. The maiolica plate that’s sparking our discussion was created for this very purpose: to give a visual image to a story of compelling human drama, inspiring contemplation and conversation about the larger issues of our shared humanity, such as the rise and fall of beautiful people.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:51:36 +0000

Great points, Chad. The image of Helen we see in Avelli’s plate was actually created by Raphael in a drawing that was later made into an engraving by his student and collaborator, Marcantonio Raimondi, Avelli then used that engraving as a template when painting his plate. It’s true that most live models in artist’s studios at that time were male, but it’s also true that these artists were drawing their ideal of female beauty from ancient sculpture created when female nudity carried less of a social stigma. Perhaps the physical strength seen in some of those ideal beauties of the distant past is another way of depicting them as powerful.

By: Chad

Chad — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:12:03 +0000

The reason for Helen’s masculine appearance and the masculine appearance of most women in renaissance paintings, sculpture, and decorative objects is rather simple. Most artists were unable to obtain women for models. In many cases it was either an issue if legality or social decorum that prevent women from posing in artists’ studios. So, artists would have a male model pose for the female image and the artist would just make the hair longer and place to round orbs on the men’s chest for breasts. As for Helen desiring to live Sparta because of its military based society, Sparta, at least in the classical age, was one of the more progressive Greek city-states allowing women to have a formal education unlike Athens or Corinth.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:26:27 +0000

She does look quite strong, doesn’t she? She reminds me of ancient marble sculptures of Venus, the type that were inspiring Renaissance artists to adopt a classical ideal of strong female beauty that can also be described as somewhat masculine. I agree with you that she looks as if she could put up more of a fight if she wanted to, especially with that left arm that seems more to be holding onto Paris than trying to push him away.
A visitor in the galleries yesterday (thanks, Kawika) suggested that Sparta may not have been such a fun place for a woman, what with all the emphasis on war preparedness, and that Helen was probably drawn to the prospect of love and romance with dreamy Paris in a faraway land. If that were the case, it would be smart of her to feign resistance (hair pulling?) while enabling the capture.

By: Chayse

Chayse — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:03:12 +0000

I think beauty is an advantage, things are just obtained more easily and I really don’t believe in the whole “beauty is a curse” idiom.

By: Robin Trento

Robin Trento — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:59:24 +0000

Interesting your comparison between paparazzi and Paris, both intent on “stealing beauty” for their own gain, and both choosing their targeted subjects based on fame and beauty. (After all, what more did Paris know about Helen than that she was “the most beautiful woman in the world?”)
In this artist’s depiction of the moment, Helen’s arms may be saying no, and the legs yes, but what about her face? She’s not exactly kicking and screaming … like she is in Giovanni Francesco Susini’s sculpture of The Abduction of Helen by Paris, 1627, also in the Getty collection. (Check it out on line, or better yet, come to the museum and compare both the sculpture and the plate in person.) Which begs the question, why not? Could she be faking resistance and secretly wanting to be captured? Like some celebrities who hold their hands up to the paparazzi’s lenses?